


The Song of a Soul

by feartheviolas



Series: Monsters of Los Angeles [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Angst, Developing Relationship, Eating Disorders, F/M, Hurt Chloe Decker, Hurt Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Identity Reveal, Investigations, Monsters of verity, Music, Organized Crime, Whump, monster lucifer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feartheviolas/pseuds/feartheviolas
Summary: Chloe Decker is a member of the city guard, fighting to keep people safe in a city where violence literally breeds lethal monsters. Lucifer Morningstar is a monster hiding in plain sight, spending his free time training LA's up and coming musicians. When the death of an innocent brings them together, they will find their world views changed in ways they never could have imagined.Previously titled 'Monsters of Los Angeles'
Relationships: Chloe Decker & Lucifer Morningstar
Series: Monsters of Los Angeles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969867
Comments: 87
Kudos: 235
Collections: Lucifer (TV) Foxy's Collection of Angst, Lucifer (TV) Foxy's Collection of other FanFic she liked.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> A few quick things before we get started:
> 
> This AU borrows the monsters and their lore from V.E. Schwab's Monsters of Verity series. You need no prior knowledge of those books to understand the story, all the necessary details are explained. (If you enjoy the AU, go read her books, they're awesome!)
> 
> There is a character with a (supernatural) eating disorder.
> 
> Special thanks to [wollfgang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wollfgang), [Hircine_Taoist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hircine_Taoist), and [Katadactyl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katadactyl) for betaing!
> 
> I made a tumblr and you can come and talk to me if you'd like, I'm feartheviolas over there as well :D  
> (I know, it's blank, I'm exceedingly bad at social media, but if you say hi, I'll say hi back)
> 
> And last but not least, I am still working on the next pirate fic, don't worry, I just wanted to get this idea down since it wouldn't leave me alone :P
> 
> Enjoy!

Lucifer leaned forwards, placing his hands on the railing, and looked out over his club like a king presiding over his domain. Music thrummed through his body like a heartbeat, and the crowd swayed in time with it. He closed his eyes and let the sound fill him, colourful patterns dancing across the inside of his eyelids. The desire to hum along welled up in his chest, and he pressed his lips together to fight the impulse. He had built this life from the ground up, and one slip could bring it all crashing down around him.

“Lucifer!”

Lucifer opened his eyes. An average human wouldn’t have been able to hear someone a few feet away over the roaring of the music, let alone a woman across the room. But Lucifer wasn’t average. Or human.

He scanned the crowd, spotting a woman with long blond hair raising her hand above the masses in a desperate attempt to get his attention. Recognition washed over him, and he made his way down the steps to the main floor of Lux towards his former employee and pupil. Bodies parted around him, and she gestured to a booth as he approached.

“Delilah!” he greeted, a smile appearing on his face.

“Hey, stranger,” she replied with an answering smile. She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

“What are you doing back here?” Lucifer asked warmly.

She shrugged. “I might be big and famous now, but I would never forget my humble beginnings. Or everything you did for me.” She leaned against him playfully, teasing.

Lucifer placed an arm around her shoulders. “You were always one of my best, Delilah. I doubt I’ll ever find another singer with your natural talent. How are you doing?”

Lucifer had mentored a lot of up and coming artists in the five years he’d been running Lux, and he tried to keep up on them after they moved on. Delilah had made it big. News of her success had been plastered across the major papers and networks. Sadly, so had the news of her failures. Lucifer and the rest of the world had read of her overdoses and stints in rehab as well.

“I’m doing pretty well, actually. I mean, you’ve probably seen the feeds, but I broke up with Jimmy, left him at the altar.” She smirked as she recalled the memory. “I’m dating an up and coming rapper now. You may have heard of him, 2Vile.”

The name did not ring a bell for Lucifer; he didn’t follow the rap scene as closely as some of the other genres. He shook his head.

“I’m clean now, too,” she told him with a shy smile. “I have been for about a year. I’m hoping to get my career back on track again. I’ve got a few ideas for my new album that I’ve been toying with. Perhaps I could come back later and give you a preview. I’d love to hear your thoughts.”

“I’d quite enjoy that.” Lucifer gave her a once over. It would be nice to reconnect, and he wasn’t currently working with anyone, so he had free time in his schedule. “I’ll be available all week, just ring Maze or me.”

“And how is Maze?” Delilah asked.

“You know Maze. If she’s not out hunting Malchai, she’s terrorizing my patrons.” He nodded towards the bar.

Delilah huffed a laugh. “Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer, but I have a meeting I have to go to; otherwise, I would have offered to sing for you tonight.” She offered him an apologetic smile, and he scooted out of the booth to allow her past him.

“It was lovely to see you, darling. I’m glad to hear you’re pulling your life together.”

“Thanks, Lucifer.” She hugged him quickly and was off through the crowd. Lucifer watched her leave and then made his way in the opposite direction. There would be a live band performing in about half an hour, and he wanted to make sure that everything was going smoothly.

“Mazikeen!” He sat down at the bar and eyed his bartender as she passionately made out with a customer over the countertop.

She broke off the kiss. “What.”

He inhaled to inquire about the band when he heard a terrified scream.

“Monster!” A man tumbled into the club, his chest heaving and eyes wide. Lucifer was on his feet and across the room faster than he should have been able to be. Luckily people were too focused on the panicking man to care about Lucifer.

“There’s a monster outside!” the man yelled again. The music cut off.

“Everybody, stay inside!” Maze’s voice echoed around the newly quiet club.

Someone else screamed.

Lucifer reached the doors and pushed through them. The bouncers recognized him and let him pass.

“Let everyone in!” Lucifer commanded them over his shoulder as he ran into the night.

It was dark outside. It should not have been dark outside.

The high-intensity UV lights that typically framed the street were off. Lucifer heard another scream and forced his way towards it, weaving through the bystanders running towards Lux.

Another scream. His heart sped up. He knew that voice.

He could see the monster now. A lone Corsai, its smokey body swirling around Delilah’s collapsed form, shielded her from Lucifer’s view, but he could hear its teeth gnashing and the wet sounds of them tearing at soft flesh. He lunged forwards, watching as Delilah went down. She was bleeding from several wounds on her body from the Corsai’s claws.

“You bastard!” Lucifer screamed at it. The Corsai’s form flickered and shifted as it rose to face him with blank white eyes. Chunks of viscera dangled from its fangs and rasping whispers filled the air.

flesh tear break flesh beat ruin tear

Lucifer snarled at the monster, and the murmurings changed.

Sunai, Sunai, Sunai

“Why her?” he growled back.

hunger tear flesh break ruin hunger bone

The Corsai prowled towards him, its claws scratching on the concrete. It was close enough that he could smell it now, an unpleasant mix of smoke and decay. The eerie whispers continued. No one had ever successfully interpreted a Corsai’s ramblings, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

“Why did you kill her?” Lucifer demanded again. The Corsai lunged towards him—right into the beam of a HUV light. It screamed and writhed as the beam hit its head, burning up in a matter of seconds, its teeth and claws clattering to the ground.

* * *

Chloe Decker had seen a lot of stupid people in her line of work, but she had never seen one this stupid. The man had approached a Corsai without any weapons, HUV flashlights, or backup, and had started screaming at it. Didn’t he know anything? She sighed and directed her HUV beam at the Corsai’s victim. At least he hadn’t ended up like the woman on the ground. At least, she thought it had been a woman. A lump rose in her throat, and she cursed herself for not being just a bit faster.

“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?!” The man stalked towards her; he looked furious.

Chloe blinked. “I’m sorry. I think I just saved your life. What did you think you were doing?”

He narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down, then straightened the cuff links on his expensive-looking suit. He was surprisingly well put together for a man who had just chased down a Corsai; not even his dark hair was out of place. “I had everything under control,” he told her. He spoke with one of those obnoxious posh sounding British accents.

Great. A tourist.

This evening just kept getting better. Chloe crossed her arms. “Look, I don’t know how it is in your country, but here we have monsters: Corsai, Malchai, Sunai.”

The man blinked at her, confused. Chloe took a deep breath readying herself for an in-depth explanation of the monsters that had plagued their city since The Phenomenon. It had been nearly thirty years since it happened, and even though it was contained to the more densely populated areas along the west coast of North America, foreigners should at least know something about it by now.

“I live here,” he snapped. “That’s my club, Lux,” he pointed across the street to the tall building on the strip. A large sign was lit up above the doors with the word LUX spelled across it.

Chloe had heard of this club. It was run by some rich asshole with a strange name: Dracula or something.

“My name is Lucifer Morningstar, and I expect that you’ll be running a full investigation as to what happened here tonight.”

Right. ‘Lucifer’. Why would anyone name their kid ‘Lucifer’?

“Sergeant Chloe Decker, Los Angeles City Guard.” She sighed. She did not get paid enough for this. “We don’t—look, why don’t we go inside where it’s safe to talk?”

“Why?” He cocked his head. “The Corsai is dead. The danger has passed.”

“Look,” she snapped. “The streetlights are still out. If you’re a local, you know that Corsai are part of a hivemind and they always travel in groups. The other city guards are working on securing the area. I’d rather no one else died tonight.” Chloe had her daughter at home to get back to and no intention of dying because of this man’s stupidity. She turned on her heel and started towards the building, not checking to see if Lucifer followed. He was what was wrong with the world. He and people like him, living in their bubbles with too much money, privileged to ignore the reality of the monsters that killed people every day.

Chloe was lucky in some respects though, A Corsai, born from violence, she could deal with. Even a Malchai, born from murder, was manageable with the right tools and some backup. And she considered herself extremely fortunate she’d never had to tangle with a Sunai. She had heard the stories of entire city blocks destroyed by a lone Sunai.

“Decker!” one of her fellow guards called. “We found something!”

She turned and headed over to a few guards standing around the controls for the streetlights. One of them fiddled with the panel, and the lights flared back to life, bathing the street in bright fluorescent light.

“It must have been tampered with,” an accented voice said in her ear.

Chloe jumped and sidestepped away from Lucifer’s looming presence at her shoulder. He seemed to have no concept of personal space and continued to lean in as he examined the light panel. She opened her mouth to tell him to go inside again, but never got the chance.

“Hey, Chlo.” The last person she wanted to deal with tonight approached her.

“Hello, Dan,” she replied stoically.

“It looks like it was just a loose wire. No big deal. They didn’t find any other monsters either, so I think we’re gonna head out now that the area is secure,” he told her.

“You don’t know anything,” Lucifer growled, stepping forwards into Dan’s space. His gaze flickered to the ground by Dan’s feet, and back up to his eyes, glaring.

“What the hell, man?!” Dan yelled, trying to make himself taller as Lucifer loomed over him.

“Lucifer!” Chloe grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him away, but he was solid like steel and didn’t budge. “Lucifer,” she hissed.

“You heard me. I don’t think you know how to do your job,” Lucifer spoke slowly, a threat.

“Yeah, well, I don’t need jerks like you telling me how to do it!” Dan snapped. “Let’s go, Chloe.” He turned around and stalked off.

“I have a few more things to take care of here, I’ll catch up,” she called after him, her hand still gripping Lucifer’s arm.

“That man is a douche,” Lucifer told her, relaxing his stance.

“What the hell was that about?” Chloe demanded. “Dan was just trying to help.”

Lucifer snorted. “Why are you defending him?”

“It’s none of your business,” she snapped. And it wasn’t. Chloe wasn’t about to explain her relationship with Dan, just because some spoiled rich man asked her. “And you need to accept that that woman’s death might have been an accident.”

Lucifer’s eyes met hers, stormy and grey. “Sergeant Decker, you said yourself that Corsai do not travel on their own. They are part of a hivemind, they act together, and they do not have their own individual thoughts. So, tell me, why wouldn’t this incident be the least bit suspicious?”

He had a point. It had been nagging at the back of Chloe’s mind as well. “Lucifer,” she sighed. “I’m not a detective. We—the city guard—we don’t solve crimes; we just protect the citizens from monsters.”

“But you do agree with me, don’t you?” he pressed.

“I’ll agree that there’s something about this that doesn’t sit right with me. I can try to look into it, but I won’t make any promises.”

“That woman was an innocent, Sergeant, and she did not deserve to die. I will not stand for attacks on or near my property, and I will do whatever it takes to prevent such an event from happening again,” he told her, his voice steady and even.

“Listen to me, Lucifer.” She stepped towards him, getting into his space as anger boiled under her skin. “Innocents die in monster attacks every day, and you’ve never once used your influence to do anything about it. We live in a dangerous world with real threats, and I do not have the time nor desire to babysit a spoiled rich asshole like you running around chasing monsters like it’s some kind of a game. You’ll eventually get bored, and then you’ll just go back to your little bubble world and leave the rest of us here to fight your battles. So, you can take your attitude and go get your little adrenaline rush or danger fix somewhere else,” Chloe snapped. Her chest was heaving, and her cheeks were hot.

Lucifer stood there, still as a statue, his face blank and expressionless. “Don’t presume to know me, Sergeant,” he said quietly, then turned and walked back towards the club.

Chloe sighed. That had gone well. She watched the club owner retreat, thoughts swirling through her head. She wanted to ignore the tugging in her gut, but she knew it wouldn’t go away now that it had been awakened. Something odd had definitely happened here. Maybe tomorrow she could convince her captain to let her look into it as a monster related incident. Provided she got paid for her trouble. For now, though, it was time to head back to the station.

* * *

Lucifer sat hunched over the bar, glaring at the glass of amber liquid Maze had poured him. He had never before been so frustrated with his inability to get drunk.

The club was empty now, the patrons sent home after the evening’s unscheduled excitement. He wasn’t worried about the loss of income. At this point, they had amassed more than enough money to retire and live long, happy lives. He wasn’t doing it for the money. It had never been about the money.

Maze paced restlessly on the abandoned dance floor, and Lucifer focused on the sound the rhythm of her feet made as she moved. He took a deep breath.

“I saw a sinner today.”

The steady footsteps faltered. “Do you need to hunt?” Maze inquired.

“I’m fine, Maze. I ate two days ago. Besides, this man is too high profile. He’s a member of the city guard.”

Maze harrumphed and resumed her pacing. Lucifer thought about the man he had seen. Dan, Sergeant Decker had called him. There was definitely something going on there, judging from the hostility she had reacted with when he pushed for details. He woud bet money they were sleeping together.

Lucifer wondered what the man had done to taint his soul, what kind of monster now prowled the streets of Los Angeles because of his actions. He had recognized the telltale roiling black shadow that all sinners had, shifting and moving around the man’s feet, unnaturally darker than any normal shadow. As far as he knew, only Sunai could see them, and it was primarily how Lucifer chose his targets for hunting. The sinners were his burden, and it was his function to punish them.

“Have you ever seen a lone Corsai, Maze?” he asked his companion, turning to face her.

“No, but I don’t normally hunt Corsai. They’re too intangible. I like an opponent I can grapple with.” She grinned at him, her pacing growing more restless.

“I want to look into it. The city guard is incompetent, and if someone was responsible for Delilah’s death, then I need to punish them.” He clenched a fist.

“Well, don’t come crying to me when they figure out what you are and send an extermination team after you,” she retorted.

Lucifer rolled his eyes, and Maze smirked at him.

“Are you sure you don’t want to hunt? I don’t have any bounties right now, and I’m bored.” She bounced on the balls of her feet.

“If you’re bored, why don’t you join the city guard? I’m sure they could learn quite a lot from you.” Lucifer picked up the glass of whiskey from the table and swirled the liquid in the cup.

Maze wrinkled her nose in disdain. “Right. As if. Could you even picture me in one of their uniforms? And following all those rules.” She shudders. “What about… what if I hunted humans as well?”

“No.” Lucifer squeezed the glass in his hand.

“Oh, come on,” Maze whined. “I promise I’ll be careful.”

“I said no,” Lucifer growled. The glass in his hand shattered, shards of it tumbling to the floor. Amber liquid dripped over his unharmed hand.

“Lucifer—”

“What happens when you end up having to kill one of them, Mazikeen? What happens when you come back here, your shadow twisting with darkness and your soul glowing red with sin? You know how this ends. I forbid it.”

Maze glared at him. Lucifer stood up and walked to the elevator, leaving the club behind for his penthouse. He ground his teeth. Lucifer didn’t have friends, but he had known Maze nearly his entire life. They had been through a lot together. She was the one who had protected him, taught him how to pass for a human. Without her… his life would be infinitely harder. It certainly would not be advantageous to lose her. As a business partner, of course.

The elevator dinged to announce its arrival at its destination, and Lucifer made a beeline for his piano. He sat down at the bench, placed his fingers on the keys, and immediately lost himself to the music.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucifer approached the gaudy mansion and rang the bell, fidgeting as he waited for a response. He had decided to begin his investigation at the house of the rapper Delilah mentioned dating. He had to figure out if anyone was harbouring any sort of grudge against the singer, and this was his best lead.

The heavy glass-panelled door swung open, and a stuffy butler greeted Lucifer. “Can I help you?”

“Ah. Yes, I have some… business to conduct with Mr. Vile. If you know what I mean.” Lucifer waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the butler, who sighed and opened the door wider.

“Right this way, sir.”

He led Lucifer through the horribly decorated interior of the house. Was it really necessary to have so much gold? And the designer labels on everything. Lucifer was certain Gucci did not and never had been in the business of producing tissue boxes. He wondered if it were possible for the sin of horrible taste to taint a human’s soul, then he might be able to punish this man for his heinous decorations.

The butler knocked on a door. Lucifer didn’t know why he bothered. The rap music pouring out of the room was so loud that no one would have heard the sound. Sure enough, the butler gave up and opened the door, letting Lucifer into the room. He strolled in, immediately locating the stereo plug and silenced the music.

“Ah, much better.” He straightened his suit cuffs and surveyed the room. Several men were scattered around, lounging on sofas and leaning against the walls, and every free surface was covered in fast food and half-empty bottles of alcohol.

“What the hell? Who let this asshole in?” demanded one of the men, standing up. He had on some kind of sports jersey and an excessive amount of gold chains around his neck. This must be the man he was looking for. The others looked to him but didn’t speak up as he approached.

“Hello, Mr. Vile. I have some questions for you about Delilah.”

2Vile stepped closer, unafraid. “Oh yeah? Who’s asking?” He jutted his chin out and crossed his arms. Several of the men standing against the wall straightened up and pulled out guns. Lucifer sighed, frustrated. The guns wouldn’t be able to penetrate his skin but getting shot and walking away without a scratch would arouse suspicions. He wasn’t about to cower in fear, but he could play the game.

“Lucifer Morningstar,” he answered, holding 2Vile’s gaze.

“Holy shit, man, you’re Lucifer Morningstar?” He waved at his goonies to lower their weapons. “Dude, you’re like, a legend in the music world. Delilah told me all about how you helped her get her career started. Hey, do you think you could—”

“Mr. Vile, I’d like to get back to Delilah now,” Lucifer cut him off. This was taking too long. He pushed some power into his voice, using it to compel the man to answer him. “Tell me, was Delilah afraid of anyone? Was she being threatened?”

The rapper immediately focused intently on Lucifer. “Nah, man. She was good. Finally getting clean, y’know? We were gonna write a song together.” The man’s brow furrowed. “It’s all my fault… I… I shoulda been there, man. I shoulda protected her… I wasn’t worthy… wasn’t good enough… I was—”

“All right, all right, that’s enough.” Lucifer backed away from the man hastily. This was always the risk of being in close proximity to humans. He could encourage them to tell the truth, yes, but he also brought out their guilt. People always tried to confess their sins to him. “I’ll see myself out. Gentlemen,” he nodded at the men in the room, before turning on his heel and strolling out of the room.

Right into the shocked face of one Sergeant Decker. She stood there looking like a soldier in her grey city guard uniform, her blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, blue eyes wide.

“Lucifer?”

“Hello, Sergeant!” he grinned. “What are you doing here?”

“What—I’m here to inform Delilah’s boyfriend of what happened last night. What are you doing here?”

“Ah, no need. I just questioned him about suspicious events surrounding her demise. He wasn’t able to tell me anything of import. Shall we?” he gestured down the hallway.

“No. We shan’t. What the hell were you thinking? Did he even know she was dead before you got here?” Her hands were on her hips now as her confusion turned to anger.

Lucifer huffed. “Of course, he did. You do know newsfeeds exist, right? And Delilah wasn’t exactly unknown to the public.”

“Still. I can’t have you running around investigating this. You’re a civilian with no training, you’re going to get yourself or someone else killed.” She pulled out a pair of handcuffs and grabbed Lucifer’s wrist. The second they touched his skin, he pulled his hand back. Pure metal. He fought back a shudder. Unlike Corsai and Malchai, he could touch pure metal, but it still left him feeling nauseous and uncomfortable. Chloe looked up at him, a question on her lips.

“I can look after myself, Sergeant. I assure you; I have experience fighting. Have you heard of Mazikeen Smith?” He hoped this would take her mind off the cuffs.

“The Malchai bounty hunter?” she asked.

“Yes, the very one. She’s my business partner; she trained me.”

The Sergeant narrowed her eyes, as though contemplating whether or not to believe him.

“I promise. We can even go talk to her right now. I don’t lie.” He left out the fact that he actually couldn’t lie. No monster could. He could, however, omit things and play with meaning. He fancied himself quite skilled at it, in fact. “Besides,” he added. “I have connections in the music world that could prove useful in this investigation.”

The Sergeant sighed, her posture relaxing. “Alright. But if this gets dangerous, you let me handle it, okay?”

“Whatever makes you happy, darling,” he winked at her.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Let’s go.” She led the way to her car, which was parked in the driveway in front of the mansion.

Lucifer slid into the passenger seat, taking in her vehicle. It wasn’t particularly fancy or expensive, but it was practical and seemed to function well enough once she started driving.

“Where to?” she asked.

“We should probably stop by Lux. I’ve got a list of my contacts there, and we can use it as a meeting place if we need to,” he told her.

She nodded. “Sounds good. So, how did you know Delilah anyway? She has a boyfriend, but you obviously care very much about her. Are you her ex or something?”

Lucifer fiddled with his cufflink—custom made from a metal alloy that wouldn’t bother him. “She was my student—one of my first. I’ve had Lux for five years now, and I’ve never heard anyone with a voice like hers. She came to get a job at Lux. I’d only been running it for a few months at the time, and when I heard her sing, I knew I had to give her a chance. The rest is, well, history, as they say. A label saw her perform and signed her. Over the years, more and more people have come to Lux to scout for talent. I curate all the music played there and screen the musicians myself. I’m… very particular,” he smirked.

“Wow. I didn’t know you’d known her so long. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for how I reacted last night, I’ve lost people too, and I understand wanting to know why.” She offered him a small smile, and he looked down at his hands. This was different. Something welled in his chest that he couldn’t name. A new feeling. He tried to push it aside, struggling to keep his expression schooled.

“So, ah, how did you end up working for the city guard?” he asked her.

She shrugged, not taking her eyes off the road. “I don’t live in the city centre. Where I live, things are less protected. Not everyone can afford to pay for protection, and the streets don’t always have UV lights like they do in the centre. I wanted to help people. I wanted to make a difference. What they don’t tell you is that even though the city guard is publicly funded, we don’t get nearly enough money to cover all of Los Angeles.” 

Lucifer remained silent, and the Sergeant continued. “I don’t expect you to understand what it’s like, but it’s okay. I suppose living in the city centre is a lot like life was before The Phenomenon. Things seem so perfect there, so normal. I lived in that bubble once. It burst, and I found nothing was the same after. Joining the city guard was a way to try and bring that normal back for people. Although, it’s getting harder and harder to remember what ‘normal’ used to be,” she sighed, falling silent.

Thoughts swirled in Lucifer’s head. He felt with her. Felt with her in a way he hadn’t felt with another human being. He’d always maintained a distance from humanity; he wasn’t one of them; he didn’t have the same problems as they did. He cleaned up their messes. But the Sergeant’s words echoed the sentiment that, she too, wanted to help rid the world of the suffering that sinners caused.

He’d never wanted so badly to tell someone his secret. To admit what he was. He wanted her to know. He wanted to tell her what it had been like when he had been created nearly six years ago. He wanted to tell her about learning about humans and how he punishes those who have sinned. He wanted to share his music with her and see what her soul looked like when it glowed.

“Lucifer? Something on your mind?” She looked over at him, concerned.

He tilted his head. No. He couldn’t tell her.

“What was life like for you before you came to LA? You’re British, right?”

Damn. “Not exactly. It’s… It’s complicated.” He fidgeted in his seat, glancing out the window. They were pulling up to Lux now. “Oh, look! We’ve arrived! Just give your keys to the valet; they’ll take care of parking for you.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and had his hand on the door, springing out of the car just as it rolled to a stop. Too much. He had almost said too much. She’d definitely think something was off about him now. Maybe if he offered her enough alcohol, she’d forget.

He nodded to himself as he entered the club. Yes, alcohol. Perfect idea.

* * *

Chloe leaned against the bar and knocked back the rest of her whiskey. The high quality of the alcohol Lux stocked had been a pleasant surprise. Lucifer had given her free reign at the bar while he looked up various contacts and called them for information on Delilah. She’d agreed to one drink and savoured it slowly as she listened to him make calls. She was frankly impressed with the number of people he knew in the LA music community. He had private numbers for even the biggest stars and producers in the area, and he was clearly on a first-name basis with most of them, asking after families and hobbies like an old friend.

Eventually, he walked around the bar and took a place on the stool next to her.

“Well, that was a load of rubbish,” he sighed. “No one has any idea who might have wanted to harm Delilah.”

Chloe reached over and placed a hand on his arm. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re trying, if there’s anything to be found, I’m sure you’ll find it.” She genuinely felt bad for him. Sure, he lived in his bubble, but he was clearly grieving for his friend. Chloe was too familiar with death to ignore the signs.

He huffed and reached out to pour himself a glass of whiskey.

“Lucifer!”

Chloe jumped at the sudden additional voice. She looked over her shoulder to see Mazikeen Smith, the bounty hunter, stalking towards them. She twirled a pure iron knife around one finger casually. Chloe shivered. She’d never worked with Maze personally, but she’d heard stories. The woman was legendary with the amount of Malchai she brought down. No one else even came close to her numbers.

Mazikeen noticed Chloe staring and grinned at her like a wolf at prey.

“What is it, Maze?” Lucifer asked her wearily.

“Jimmy called me. Said the line was busy. He wanted to know if you need any party drugs for the club. I told him you were buying from someone else these days,” she smirked.

“Who’s Jimmy?” Chloe cut in. She wasn’t a fan of drug use, but she wasn’t about to tell Lucifer how to run his club either.

“Jimmy Barnes. Music producer and under the table dealer,” Lucifer answered her. “Also used to date Delilah.”

“Wait. Did you say he used to date Delilah? And wasn’t she trying to get away from using?” Chloe felt the wheels turning in her head. This guy definitely had reasons to want Delilah dead.

“Brilliant, Sergeant!” Lucifer sat up straight. “If he wasn’t the one who wanted her dead, he might have a good idea of who did. He’s very familiar with the local supply chains, and he would almost certainly know whom Delilah purchased from.”

“Would you like me to call him back and ask him?” Maze asked.

“No, Maze, I think I’d be better off paying him a visit in person.” He gave her a look, and she nodded.

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re not going alone. If he really is the man who sent a Corsai after Delilah, he could have more. You promised you wouldn’t put lives in danger needlessly,” Chloe interjected.

“I’m not—”

“I don’t want to hear it. I’m going with you, or you’re not going at all. End of discussion.” Chloe stood up from the bar and crossed her arms.

“All right,” he sighed reluctantly.

Maze cocked an eyebrow. “Well, you two have fun. I’d love to help you beat up a drug dealer, but I’ve got some bloodsuckers to carve up.” She winked at Chloe, spun on her heel, and was gone.

* * *

Chloe drove again, Lucifer giving her directions to the studio where Jimmy worked. When they got out of the car, she made sure she equipped her HUV light and gun with pure iron bullets. She handed a spare light to Lucifer, and he rolled his eyes, but relented, tucking it inside his suit jacket.

He led the way into the lobby, greeting the receptionist.

“Lucifer Morningstar. I’m here to see Jimmy Barnes. He knows who I am. We’re old friends.”

Chloe hung back, checking out the lobby, while the receptionist made a phone call, presumably to verify Lucifer’s statement.

After a few minutes, the receptionist smiled. “Mr. Barnes is just finishing up a session. He’ll meet you in one of his recording booths, fifth floor, room 503.” She nodded in the direction of the elevators.

Finding the room wasn’t hard, and Lucifer opened the door for her, letting her enter first. It was a typical recording booth, microphones scattered around the room, and a few instruments on stands against the wall. She’d been in a few, back during her acting days. Lucifer was in the corner, examining a keyboard nestled against the wall.

“Do you play?” Chloe asked him, nodding at the piano.

He turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised.

“Right. Of course, you do.” She rolled her eyes. “So, how many instruments do you play then?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, the door swung open, and a man with a receding hairline and a grey button-up shirt entered the room.

“Jimmy Barnes.” Lucifer greeted.

“Lucifer Morningstar. A pleasure.” His eyes flickered to Chloe. “And who is your little friend?”

“Mr. Barnes, we know you used to be engaged to Delilah; we want to know who she bought drugs from,” Chloe interrupted, not answering his question.

Jimmy’s eyes widened slightly, and he looked from Chloe to Lucifer, his hand fiddling with something in his pocket. Chloe narrowed her eyes. Something wasn’t right.

Lucifer stepped closer to the man, towering over him. “What did you do?” he asked sharply.

“I killed her,” Jimmy growled. “Do you know how much money that bitch made me? She was my shining star. I recorded her album, brought her into my world, gave her everything, the best money could buy. Drugs, cars, houses, and how did she repay me? She left me standing at the altar. I wasn’t about to let her get away with it. Nobody makes a fool of Jimmy Barnes. So, I went to the Sinnerman, and he lent me some men. They have special skills. Useful skills,” he smirked.

Lucifer stepped forwards, rage burning on his face. Jimmy stepped back, stumbling against the wall next to the entrance. His hands fumbled behind him, and a grin split his face, seconds before the room plunged into darkness. The door to the recording booth banged open and snarling shadows flowed into the room. Corsai. Several of them. Chloe’s breath caught in her throat.

“Now that you know, I can’t let you go. You understand, of course. It’s just business,” Jimmy’s voice taunted them from the doorway.

Chloe grabbed her HUV light and swung it in an arch, catching a Corsai in its beam. The monster dropped writhing and wailing on the floor. She couldn’t see them, but she could hear their whispers getting closer. She looked around the room, searching for Lucifer, when something hit her from the side, knocking her off balance and slicing her waist. She cried out in pain, bringing her HUV around to try and ward the monster off. She missed, and she saw a flash of claws as it attacked, tearing through her skin once more.

“Lucifer!” she called out, her voice panicked and sharp. Her arm shook as she struggled to aim her light and relished the sound of another Corsai screaming as she hit it. Her side was warm and sticky with her blood, and she felt so heavy. She stumbled, and something grabbed her leg, cutting into her calf. She fell, her head smacking into the ground as she landed. Chloe blinked, struggling to stay awake. Oh, God, she was dying.

Pain… more pain… where was Lucifer… they had to stop Jimmy… had to… music… it was so pretty… the most beautiful…

* * *

Lucifer fought off eager Corsai, their claws and teeth scraping against his skin but not puncturing it. He snarled at the monsters and lashed out, searching for the outline of the keyboard in the dim light.

There. It should work.

His fingers met the keys, and he flipped the on switch, movements a blur. He took a deep breath and played. Music poured out of the instrument and filled the room, tendrils of light flowing out of the piano. The Corsai hissed and dove out of the way, pressing into the corners of the room. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing the woman he had dragged into this. Chloe. She was sprawled on the floor, limp in a pool of blood. He would not let her die.

Jimmy had returned to the room and was moving towards Lucifer, walking steadily as though he were in a trance. Under his shirt, in his chest, his soul began to glow. It was stained the sickening red colour of sin—the soul of the guilty.

“I had no choice,” Jimmy whispered. “She left me. I would do it again.”

Lucifer stepped away from the piano, reaching out a hand to Jimmy. He pressed his fingers into the bare skin at the man’s collarbone, and the light swirled, passing from Jimmy to him. Lucifer closed his eyes as he felt the soul surge into his body, filling him with warmth and energy. He shuddered, opening his eyes and seeing Jimmy’s now lifeless body crumple to the floor, gaping burnt holes where his eyes used to be.

Lucifer pulled the spare HUV light out from his jacket and flipped it on, keeping the remaining Corsai at bay. He ran to Chloe’s body, her soul glowing a brilliant, pure white. She was still alive. He scooped her into his arms, her weight was nothing to his strength, and carried her out of the recording booth, reaching for his phone to call an ambulance. Without the light to keep them at bay, he could hear the Corsai descending upon what was left of Jimmy’s body. Good. They would remove all traces that a Sunai had made the kill, and his cover would remain intact.

He looked down at Chloe as her soul faded back into her skin, no longer under the influence of his music. “I won’t let you die, Chloe,” he whispered. “I promise.”


	3. Chapter 3

Dan looked down at the corpse at his feet and mourned the loss of his relaxing evening. All he wanted was to get drinks with a few of his buddies, and now one of those very buddies lay on the ground behind the bar, exsanguinated.

Malchai.

The body was still warm, so it was probably still in the area. Dan pulled out an iron knife and took a deep breath of the fresh night air in an attempt to clear his alcohol-induced mind. He would avenge Jason. Nobody deserved to go out like that.

He stalked down the alleyway, examining every shadow, his knife held out in front of him.

There. Movement.

He pointed his knife at the suspicious shadow, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. This was it. He was sure of it. A silhouette stepped out of the shadows, the body a mockery of a man. The monster met Dan’s gaze and grinned, pointed teeth on display. He was of average build and wearing civilian clothes, but his visage was far from human. His hair was white and colourless, and his skin was translucent, revealing the black bones underneath. His red eyes caught the streetlight, giving them a menacing glow.

“Hello, _Dan_ ,” the Malchai greeted him, its grin widening.

Dan felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. He could no longer deny it. Some primal part of him had recognized the monster instantly. This was _his_ Malchai.

* * *

**Two weeks earlier**

_The night was fast approaching as Dan tailed his coworker. Paolucci had been behaving suspiciously lately, jumping at every chance to work a solo assignment, staying behind late after they finished a job. He’d even requested permission to take bits of the slaughtered monsters home with him for “research”. Today had been the cherry on the cake when Dan overheard him speaking with another member of the city guard about the infamous Sinnerman._

_Stories of the Sinnerman were as terrifying as the monsters he was rumoured to have tamed. Some people claimed you could rent monsters from him to do your dirty work, while others claimed that he was actually a Sunai with untold power. Then there were the more typical crime overlord rumours, those of the sales of drugs, weapons, sex, and even people. The Sinnerman had no conscience. For the right price, he could make anything happen._

_Paolucci had mentioned meeting up with a contact tonight, and when he did, Dan would be there to put an end to it. The Sinnerman would not corrupt the city guard, not on his watch._

_The other man checked over his shoulder, and Dan ducked into the doorway of a shop. When he looked back onto the street, the man was gone. Dan hurried to where he had last seen him, noting an alley to his left, and he crept along towards it, keeping to the wall. As he neared the turn, he could hear the murmur of voices coming from the intersecting street. Dan peeked around the corner._

_Paolucci stood with his back to him, talking to a man that Dan didn’t recognize. Dan placed his hand on his gun, watching them, his ears straining unsuccessfully to pick up the details of his conversation. They were exchanging something now, Paolucci had hurriedly passed the man a package and received what looked like cash in exchange. Someone yelled a few streets over, and both men’s heads snapped up. Paolucci’s contact noticed Dan._

Shit.

_The contact’s eyes widened, and he tucked the package under his hoodie, turning to run off. Paolucci turned, his hand reaching for his pocket. The men were going to get away. Dan didn’t hesitate. He pulled his gun and fired, two shots into the contact and another into Paolucci. Both men went down. If they weren’t dead now, the Corsai would be on them the second the sunlight vanished. Dan holstered his gun and took off, desperate to put as much distance between himself and the bodies as possible._

_The next day he heard the news from a coworker—Paolucci and an unidentified second man had been mauled by a Corsai, their deaths ruled an accident. Dan let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Paolucci and his contact were dead, and the Sinnerman’s influence in the city guard was quashed for the time being._

* * *

**Now**

He’d done the right thing, he told himself. He’d stopped bad people; he’d been scared, he was just protecting his own life, making things safer for his wife and child. But the same part of him that recognized the Malchai as his own knew that these were just lies he told himself to feel better. He didn’t have to kill those men. There were other solutions. He’d fucked up, and now that mistake was staring him in the face, its red eyes silently accusing him of the murder he’d committed.

“I suppose it’s not fair that I know your name, and you don’t know mine. The name’s Malcolm. I believe we have a few things to discuss.”

“I’m not discussing anything with you,” Dan spat.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Dan. But if you listen to what I have to tell you, I’m sure it will pique your interest. You see, I’ve been watching you, Dan. I’ve been following you, figuring out where you go, what you do there, _who_ you go with. Your dead friend there,” he nodded towards the bar, “he was only the first.”

Rage boiled in Dan’s head, and he charged forwards, swinging the knife at the Malchai, who sidestepped, his supernatural speed keeping him well ahead of the drunk man’s strike.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Dan. You see, I happen to know of a certain _Beatrice_ who attends an elementary school not too far from here. And a certain _Chloe_ that lives with her.” Malcolm smirked.

Dan felt the blood drain from his face. This couldn’t be happening. He lunged forwards again, his knife raised to strike, but the Malchai was gone.

The last thing Dan heard was a low chuckle behind him as his head exploded in pain, and everything went dark.

* * *

Chloe slowly became aware of her body again, sensation almost fading into existence. She could tell she was lying on a soft surface, and she felt like she was cocooned in some sort of material. She blinked, and a warm, artificial light filled her vision. A white speckled ceiling came into focus.

A noise drew her attention, and she tilted her head to see a door opening. A nurse entered the room, and realization dawned on her. She was in a hospital. She could remember bits and pieces, but they slid from her grasp as she tried to concentrate on them. Gnashing teeth and claws… Lucifer… darkness… music…

“Oh, wonderful! You’re awake!” the nurse beamed. “Your partner brought you in last night with severe wounds from a monster attack. We stitched up the gashes on your side and your left calf, and we had to give you a blood transfusion. You’d lost a lot of blood. You also showed signs of a minor concussion. We’d like to keep you here for at least another day for observation to make sure that everything is on its way to healing. You are expected to make a full recovery, though. No permanent damage, aside from some scarring.” The nurse patted her hand and set about checking her bandages and monitors.

Chloe just nodded along, her mind trying to catch up with everything the woman had said.

“And before I forget!” the nurse added. “Your daughter is outside with your partner, waiting for you to wake up. I had them wait outside so they wouldn’t wake you before you were ready, but if you’d like, I can send them in now.”

This got her attention. “My daughter. Yes, please.” The hoarseness of her voice surprised her. The nurse just smiled again and handed her a glass of water, observing her carefully as she drank it before leaving the room. Chloe sighed and sat up slightly, trying to make herself look strong and recovered for her daughter. She didn’t want Trixie to be scared.

The door swung open again, this time much faster, and Chloe’s heart warmed as she saw her daughter towing Lucifer— _Lucifer?!—_ into the room.

“Lucifer?” she asked, baffled.

The man looked up at her, an alarmed look on his face as his eyes flickered between her and Trixie. Chloe huffed a laugh and then winced as it pulled at her stitches.

“Mommy!” Trixie yelled, letting go of Lucifer and running towards her.

“Hey, monkey,” Chloe greeted her, opening her arms and hugging her daughter gently. “Careful, Mommy has some cuts.”

Trixie looked up at her, eyes wide. “Are you okay, Mommy?”

“Yeah,” she reassured her. “I’m good. I just need to rest a bit so that I can heal. I’ll be home before you know it.”

“Lovely to hear you’re recovering, Sergeant,” Lucifer added, nodding at her.

“Thank you, Lucifer.” She stroked her daughter’s hair and looked up at him, offering a smile. He nodded again, and a small smile appeared on his face. “Have you seen Dan?” she asked.

The smile vanished. “The douche from the city guard? Why ever do you care about him?”

She sighed. “Dan is my husband. Was. Well, we’re on a break. Separated. It’s not important. He’s Trixie’s father. I’m surprised he hasn’t come by.”

The look on Lucifer’s face remained neutral. “The last time I saw him was when I was with you.”

That _bastard_. He couldn’t even make time for them when she was in the hospital. He had better have a damned good excuse this time because she was this close to marching out of the hospital and demanding her lawyer draw up divorce papers right then and there.

“Your offspring’s nanny brought her here after the hospital called her,” Lucifer continued, interrupting her thoughts. “She’s been interrogating me ever since.” He shot an apprehensive glance at Trixie, and Chloe fought back a smile. He was obviously terrified of her.

“Is Olga still here?” she asked him.

He nodded. “She fell asleep in the waiting room half an hour ago. I’m sure she’s fine.” He looked like he wanted to add something else but caught himself.

“Mommy! Lucifer told me you stopped the bad guys! He said you saved people!” Trixie interrupted, pride evident in her voice. Chloe felt a surge of gratitude towards Lucifer.

“That’s right, I did stop the bad guys. Lucifer helped quite a bit as well.” She smiled at Lucifer and then looked at her daughter, considering. “Hey, monkey, can you pass me my bag there?” She pointed to the purse lying on the table by the bed. Her daughter grabbed it and immediately started digging through it.

“What do you need, Mommy?” Trixie asked.

Chloe held out her hand, and Trixie handed her the bag. She pulled out her wallet, grabbing a ten and giving it to her daughter. “How about you go get yourself some chocolate from one of the vending machines?” she suggested. Her heart warmed as her daughter’s eyes lit up with excitement, but she hesitated. “It’s okay,” Chloe reassured her. “Lucifer will look after me while you’re gone.” She winked at her daughter.

Reassured, Trixie beamed. “Thank you, Mommy!” the little girl yelled as she practically ran out of the room in search of her treat.

Chloe turned back to Lucifer. “What happened? Did Jimmy…?”

“Jimmy is dead,” he stated. She sighed in relief. “I heard you fall; I was able to… distract the monsters. They turned on Jimmy and ate him after I managed to carry you out of the room. The city guard showed up to take care of the remainder of the Corsai after we left.”

Alarm shot through her. “Are you hurt?!” Her eyes searched his body for signs of injury.

“No, your injuries were far worse. I will be fine, darling. Focus on your own recovery.” He flashed her a confident smile.

“And the Corsai just turned on Jimmy? I thought he had them trained?”

“I guess his control wasn’t as good as he had assumed. Monsters are quite dangerous, after all.”

It didn’t feel like he was lying… but… “I guess training with Maze really paid off then, huh?” A small amount of guilt bubbled to the surface as she recalled how she had judged him when they first met. “I’m sorry… you know… for assuming you were defenceless,” she smiled sheepishly.

He scoffed. “As if you had any reason to believe otherwise. You’ve opened my eyes to many things about this city in just a few short days, Sergeant.”

Chloe opened her mouth to reply when the door opened suddenly, and Trixie skipped in. Her arms were full of chocolate bars, and she had smudges of chocolate on her face. She was singing a popular children’s rhyme about monsters.

_Corsai, Corsai, tooth and claw,_

_Shadow and bone will eat you raw._

_Malchai, Malchai, sharp and sly,_

_Smile and bite and drink you dry._

_Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal,_

_Sing you a song and steal your soul._

_Monsters, monsters, big and small,_

_They’re gonna come and eat you all.*_

She climbed into the bed next to Chloe, still singing, getting streaks of chocolate on the blankets. Lucifer was watching Trixie as she sang, a strange look on his face. He no longer looked terrified, but something was clearly bothering him. He noticed her watching him, and his face returned to the blank mask she had seen before when she had talked about Dan.

“I should probably be going now. Things to do and all that.” He turned and strode swiftly towards the door.

“Wait, Lucifer. If you’d like, after I get out of here, we can go to dinner or something, you know, as a thank you.”

He hesitated at the door. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to. What you did for me…” She tried to put all the gratitude she felt into her eyes.

He met her gaze and nodded awkwardly before quickly looking down at his wrists and fiddling with his cuffs again. “All right. You know how to reach me.” And with that, he was out the door and disappearing down the hallway.

Chloe put her arm around her daughter, her heart full of warmth. She was alive; they were safe; everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The song that Trixie sings was written by V.E. Scwhab and is from her book _This Savage Song_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Apologies for being a few days late with this chapter. I had a few timeline edits I wanted to make before I posted it and I've been a bit overwhelmed with grad school starting up. 
> 
> I might have a few delays in posting things in the next week or so, just as I figure out how to balance all this new online classes and distance research stuff, but I promise that aside from a few minor edits the story is done, and nothing will stop me from finishing posting. Anyone who knows me knows I have a huge inability to leave things unfinished. (Seriously, I made my partner promise to post the rest of it if I get into a freak accident before it's done ;P)

The first thing he was aware of was the cloying musty smell of mildew, followed by an intense pounding in his head and neck. Dan groaned, his eyes fluttering open. It was dark. His limbs were cramped, and he was leaning back against some sort of metal support pole. He tried to move his arms, but a biting tightness at his wrists told him they were bound together behind him. He turned his head and immediately regretted it when his vision was filled with stars. There was something warm and sticky on his neck, and his shirt felt damp and tacky. He squinted into the darkness, trying to get his bearings.

He had been out drinking with some friends, and he was walking home when— _shit!_ Jason! Dan struggled against his restraints again, wincing as the ties around his wrists pinched and pulled at his skin. He’d found Jason’s body and then that Malchai had shown up. No, _his_ Malchai. Malcolm. Dan shuddered. He was going to hurt Chloe and Trixie. Dan’s struggles grew more desperate. He had to get out, had to warn them.

The door creaked open, and Dan’s head whipped up towards the sound. He immediately regretted it when he almost passed out from the pain and sudden movement. He took a few deep breaths as the room was washed in a pale-yellow light.

“Oh, good. You’re awake. I was beginning to worry I’d taken a little too much blood there,” the Malchai grinned, and Dan winced at the sight of his pointed teeth. “You were so delicious; it was hard to stop. But I’m saving the best for last.”

“Stay. Away. From. My. Family,” Dan grunted out, gritting his teeth against the pain. He now knew why he felt so dizzy. Blood loss. He was probably severely dehydrated.

Malcolm chuckled. “You know, I was almost too late for your wife. She’s been in the hospital for a few days recovering from a Corsai attack. It’s a shame you couldn’t be there.”

“ _Chloe_ ,” Dan gasped, his eyes growing wide. What happened? Had she gotten hurt at work?

“Don’t worry. She went home today; I saw her and your kid. The only difficulty now will be catching her apart from that Sunai she’s been spending so much time with,” Malcolm grumbled.

_What?_ “What Sunai? There are no Sunai in LA. That’s impossible. Chloe wouldn’t.” Dan’s heart raced. This couldn’t be happening.

“Ohoho, you didn’t know?” Malcolm laughed gleefully. “I mean, I’d noticed the city guard was incompetent, but I hadn’t realized it was _that_ bad. I thought you were all aware of him. Maybe had some sort of agreement with him to keep the peace.”

“ _Who is it?_ ” Dan gritted out. His mind swirled through the names of the male members of the city guard. Who had Chloe been spending more time with lately?

“That rich asshole who runs that flashy club downtown. Calls himself _Lucifer Morningstar_. Ring any bells?” Malcolm sneered.

Dan felt his eyes widen. _No_. It couldn’t be. That weirdo? Sure, he was annoying, but he couldn’t be a _monster_. The city guard would know if a Sunai had infiltrated LA. Malcolm must be messing with him. “I don’t believe you.”

Malcolm shrugged. “Fine. Believe me or don’t. It makes no difference to me. I just thought you might want to know.” He spun on his heel and disappeared, moving too fast for Dan’s human eyes to track. The door clicked shut, and Dan was alone again.

His mind raced. A Sunai. Here in LA. He couldn’t trust the Malchai, but it was well documented that monsters couldn’t lie. So, either Malcolm was misinformed, or he was right, and Lucifer was actually a monster in disguise. Dan could report him, and they’d detain him, run some tests, and if, in the end, he were actually human, it would be no big deal, and they’d let him go. Monster or not, from what Chloe had told him, the guy was bonkers, and it wouldn’t hurt to take him down a few pegs. Maybe they’d even let Dan interrogate him.

First things first, though, he had to get out of here and warn them about the Malchai. Dan wiggled his leg, moving it forwards and shaking it. He felt a solid weight against his ankle. The blade he kept stashed there was still in place. He pulled his leg back, twisting painfully to shimmy the knife out. He was going to get out of here.

* * *

Chloe sighed, a small sinking feeling in her chest as she checked her messages. Olga was not going to be able to watch Trixie tonight, and it was a bit short notice to find another babysitter. Not to mention, she hadn’t heard from Dan in three days. She’d left him several increasingly upset voicemails demanding he get in contact, but for some reason he was ignoring her. It wasn’t the first time either. He would go out with friends or get so involved in work that he seemed to forget he even had a family in the first place. She made a note to call into work in the morning to see if anyone knew what he was up to. 

For now, though, it looked like she was going to have to call Lucifer and reschedule their dinner. It would be getting dark soon, and nobody liked to leave their houses after sunset, at least not without a hefty bribe. She dialled his number and put the phone to her ear.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“Lucifer?” she asked.

“ _Sergeant!_ ” he practically purred. “ _Are you on your way?_ ”

“No… unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a sitter for Trixie tonight, Dan is still off doing whatever, and I’m not going to be able to make it.”

“ _Oh_.” He sounded disappointed. “ _That’s no problem. We could just have dinner at your place. That way, your offspring won’t be alone. I can have Maze manage the club for the evening. She’s done it before, and I’ve already decided the setlist, so they shouldn’t need me._ ”

Chloe was speechless for a second. She hadn’t considered inviting him here, but he had a point, and it made sense. She nodded, forgetting he couldn’t hear her. “Oh! Yes, that sounds good. I’ll text you the address. I—uh, I don’t have a lot of fancy options in the way of food here, though.” She bit her lip, her mind running through the contents of her fridge. Maybe he’d be down for hotdogs?

“ _I can pick something up along the way. It’s no bother. Do you have any preferences?_ ” he asked.

“I’m not too picky. I do like a good burger, though. Don’t get anything too out there, or Trixie won’t eat it.”

“ _Of course! I’ll see you in an hour?_ ”

“That sounds perfect! See you then!” Chloe brought her phone down, her heart rate speeding up slightly. She closed her eyes. Calm down, she told herself, it’s just a dinner between friends.

“Trixie!” she called. “Lucifer is coming over for supper; make sure your room is clean! He’ll be here in an hour!”

“How clean is clean?” came back the response.

Chloe sighed and rolled her eyes, smiling. “All the way clean, monkey! I’ll know if you just pushed everything under your bed!” She heard the grumbling coming from her daughter’s room, but she knew Trixie was also looking forward to seeing Lucifer again. She was probably planning to continue her interrogation from the hospital waiting room. Her fascination with him knew no bounds. After he had left the hospital, she had peppered Chloe with questions about him, about what he did, and about their relationship. She chuckled to herself and set about cleaning, getting the apartment ready for company.

Lucifer arrived just as the sun was setting. Chloe opened the door to let him in, the smell of fries and burgers wafting in through the door with him. Her mouth watered.

“Oh my god, that smells amazing!” she exclaimed.

“I picked them up from a local place on my way,” he smiled and held up the food. She stepped aside, ushering him into the house, peering outside before she shut the door. A chill ran up her spine, and she looked around, checking for anything on the street. There was nothing. She shivered a little and shrugged, closing the door and locking it. You could never be too careful these days. She turned around just in time to see Trixie come tearing around the corner.

“Lucifer!” She crashed into his legs, wrapping his arms around him. He looked down at her in horror as though she were a Corsai chewing on his leg rather than a small human girl. Chloe couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. He really had no experience with children. Lucifer held out the food with one hand and gently tried to pry Trixie off his legs with the other.

“Come on, monkey. Lucifer brought burgers!” Chloe encouraged. Trixie looked up at Lucifer and released him, grinning. She grabbed his hand and bounced towards the kitchen.

“You can sit next to me!” she exclaimed, indicating a place at the table for Lucifer. He glanced at Chloe worriedly, and she nodded at him encouragingly.

“She won’t bite you. I promise,” she smiled.

He sat down at the table, still eyeing Trixie warily, but he had seemed to relax a bit. Chloe took the food and helped sort out which meals were for whom before taking a seat herself. The burgers were heavenly. Trixie even had to be reminded to slow down a few times as she dug into her meal. Lucifer, on the other hand, ate slowly, barely touching his fries. He must be health conscious, especially with a body like that. Chloe blushed at her observation and tried to focus on her plate. 

“I think the burgers were a hit.” Chloe nibbled on a few fries, having finished hers.

“Thank you, Lucifer! Dinner was really yummy!” Trixie added.

“You’re welcome,” Lucifer offered a small smile at them. He hadn’t finished his food yet, but he was still working at it slowly.

“Do you really live in that big fancy club downtown?” Trixie asked Lucifer.

He shifted, turning to look at her. “Yes, I do. Well, technically, I live above it. I have a penthouse.”

Trixie’s brow furrowed. “What’s a penthouse?”

“It’s like a really fancy apartment,” Chloe answered her question.

“Wow! Do you live with anyone? Do you have a family?” Trixie leaned forwards, examining Lucifer.

Lucifer scooched his chair back a little, and Chloe was just about to dive in to redirect the conversation when he answered. “Ah, no, I don’t have any family. I live alone—well except for Maze. Maze lives in the building too. I suppose… she’s like family.” He had a strange expression on his face as though the idea had never occurred to him before. Chloe felt a pang of jealousy that she quickly stuffed down. She was just getting to know this man; she couldn’t be jealous.

“Well, it’s good that you have someone to take care of you,” Trixie stated, matter-of-factly. Lucifer looked down at his hands and fiddled with his cuffs.

“Lucifer does a lot of work with music. He helps musicians get better,” Chloe steered the topic back to safer territory.

Trixie’s eyes lit up. “Are you famous?” she asked.

“I know a lot of famous people,” Lucifer smirked and winked. “I suppose some people might consider me famous. I don’t record my own music, though. I just mentor people looking to make it big in the music business.”

“So, you’re like a music teacher for famous people?” Trixie peered up at him. Chloe laughed.

“I’ll have you know; I am in high demand, and a lot of people pay a lot of money for my services,” Lucifer huffed. He scowled at the two of them, which only made Chloe laugh harder, Trixie joining in.

“My mommy is famous too!” Trixie informed Lucifer, grinning proudly at her mother.

“Trixie—” Chloe tried to cut in, blushing.

“Oh?” Lucifer turned to her, his expression curious. “You didn’t mention anything to me about that.” He raised an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t that famous,” Chloe protested, hoping he wouldn’t press.

“She was in a movie!” Trixie spoke excitedly. “My grandma was in a whole bunch of movies too!”

“Oookay, conversation over. Time for bed, Trixie,” Chloe said, standing up. “You can have dessert tomorrow, it’s late, and you have school in the morning. I think that’s plenty of excitement for one evening.”

Trixie pouted. “But Lucifer’s still here!” she protested.

“Yes, but Lucifer doesn’t have school tomorrow.” Chloe crossed her arms and stared down her daughter.

“ _Fiiiiiine,_ ” Trixie gave in, getting up from her place and dragging her feet to her room. “Bye, Lucifer!” she turned and waved at him. He looked up, startled and raised one of his hands hesitantly in answer to her wave. Chloe felt warmth blossom in her chest at his reaction. She was definitely going to make sure they spent more time together in the future—right after she made her daughter promise never to tell him the name of the movie she was in. 

“I’m going to go put her to bed. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Feel free to move into the living room, the couch in there is pretty comfy,” she told Lucifer, before following her daughter into her room.

Chloe tucked Trixie in, making sure that her various stuffed animals were in their proper places arranged around her daughter. “No story tonight, okay? You got to stay up and talk with Lucifer tonight.”

“ _Okaaaay_. But tomorrow I get a story, right?” Trixie asked.

“Of course. Goodnight, monkey.” Chloe leaned forwards and kissed her daughter on the forehead before getting up and walking to the door.

“Goodnight, Mommy!” her daughter replied. Chloe turned out the light and closed the door quietly.

When she returned, she found Lucifer standing in the living room, examining some of the pictures on the table. He had cleared off the kitchen table, setting dishes in the sink and throwing out the burger wrappers.

“Thanks for clearing the table, Lucifer,” she said, opening up the cupboard and taking out two wine glasses.

“Of course,” he offered her a smile.

“Wine?” she asked, holding up a glass.

“I’d love some.” He turned back to the pictures and gestured at them. “Did you grow up here?”

Chloe walked over to the living room, setting the wine on the coffee table and sitting on the couch. “I grew up in LA, but not this house specifically. I moved here about six years ago. My parents actually used to live here. My father, John Decker, worked for the police before The Phenomenon, and after he switched to working for the city guard. I was still pretty young then. My mom was always an actress, Penelope Decker. I grew up pretty much immersed in the acting world. I was in a couple of movies, but I was taking some time off while Trixie was a baby, and that was when my parents passed away. I decided I didn’t want to go back to Hollywood after that. It felt… shallow… out of touch with what was going on in the world. I wanted to help people, so I joined the city guard, and I’ve been doing that ever since.”

“That’s quite a career change,” Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

Chloe shrugged. “I don’t regret it. What about you? What did you do before you had Lux?”

Lucifer was quiet. He picked up his wineglass and swirled the liquid, staring at it, but not drinking. “I didn’t,” he finally said.

“What do you mean?” Chloe asked puzzled.

Lucifer took a deep breath. “About six years ago, I woke up in the rubble of a building with no memories, save those of explosions and people screaming. I had no idea where I was or what was going on.” He looked down at the wine before looking up to meet her gaze.

Chloe felt her eyes widen. “You were one of the victims of the terrorist attack. You survived,” she breathed, in awe. She reached out her hand to touch his arm comfortingly, bumping his wineglass as she did. The glass wobbled, sloshing wine onto his nice shirt. “Shit! I’m so sorry!” Chloe gasped, standing up.

“It’s fine, Sergeant, I can just buy a new one,” Lucifer told her, also standing up and examining the new red stain spreading on his white shirt.

Chloe was having none of it. “Here, if you take it off—I mean, I can—I have some of Dan’s old shirts, you can borrow one of those, and I’ll soak the shirt until you leave. That way, it might not stain.”

“I don’t—”

“Just let me soak the shirt, please. It looks expensive, and it will make me feel better if I can at least try to fix my mess,” she pleaded.

“So eager to see me naked, Sergeant” he winked, giving in and starting on his buttons.

Chloe felt her cheeks heating up once again and hurried away to go find a spare t-shirt for him to wear. Great. Now he probably thought she spilled wine on him to get him to take his clothes off. 

She found a large green t-shirt with the logo of some Mexican restaurant that Dan liked plastered across the front. She brought it back and held it out to him, taking his shirt from him. When she looked up and saw his bare torso, she did a double-take.

“Wow,” she breathed. “Your tattoos are beautiful.” Her eyes roamed across his chest and down his arms, all of which were covered in tiny black stars. There were hundreds of them. She wondered how long it had taken to get them all done.

Lucifer glanced down at his chest, as though he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Oh, these. Thank you.” He grinned at her suggestively and pulled the t-shirt on. He looked kind of ridiculous with his fancy dress pants and the tacky green shirt, but it was also charming. Chloe took his shirt to the kitchen, where she ran some cold water over the shirt and left it to soak.

“Do they mean anything?” she asked him.

“The stars?” he asked, and she nodded. “They do.” He stopped for a minute as if considering how to explain them. “There’s one for every day since… since I last slipped.”

Chloe immediately felt bad for asking. She hadn’t meant to dredge up such painful memories. At the same time, her mind swirled with more questions. What had he struggled with? Was it drugs? Something else? “How many do you have?”

“Two thousand and forty-four,” he answered without hesitation. The last time I lapsed was a few months after the terrorist attack. I was alone then, but Maze found me and helped me a lot. We’ve been working together ever since.”

Chloe nodded, trying to force down that pang of jealousy that had resurfaced with the mention of Maze. “So, are you and Maze…?” she trailed off.

“Oh, are we jealous, Sergeant?” he teased, smirking. 

Chloe mentally kicked herself. She was just digging herself into a deeper hole here.

“Maze has taught me a lot about the world, not just how to fight,” he answered, before she could tell him to forget about it. “We started Lux together, and she looks after me. I don’t think I could have gotten to where I am with her. But if you’re asking if we’re romantically involved, the answer is no. Our relationship is based on work and a shared past,” he told her. 

She felt a little thrill of joy at hearing that he and Maze were not in a romantic relationship, before scolding herself. You’re still married to Dan, she told herself. _For now_ , her brain added, reminding her of his absence from her life after she wound up in the hospital.

“You know the terrorist attack? There’s something I didn’t mention earlier about my parents,” Chloe took a deep breath. “They were there that day too. They both died in the attack.” She fiddled with the hem of her shirt and looked at Lucifer, watching a mix of emotions wash across his face. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know.” She sighed. “I misjudged you, you know. I thought you were like all those other rich assholes; I had no idea you had been through so much. That shouldn’t have mattered though; I shouldn’t have judged you so harshly. I’m sorry.”

Lucifer was still quiet, and his hands touched the skin at his wrists, missing the cufflinks he was used to wearing. He looked up at her, his eyes softening. “I knew you had good instincts, Sergeant,” he teased. “You just needed to listen to them.”

Chloe laughed. “You jerk!” She nudged him playfully with her shoulder. He smirked at her, and she moved closer, watching him. This was nice. She sipped her wine and smiled up at him, glad he didn’t hold her previous actions against her.

“If you want, yanno, in case I ever end up having to investigate something again, you could maybe come with me. I think we make a pretty good team.”

Lucifer looked at her, surprised. “I think I’d like that Sergeant. After all, someone has to make sure the monsters don’t eat you.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Very funny. Who was it who needed saving first? I seem to recall protecting your ass while you were trying to wave down a hungry Corsai, unarmed.”

“Mommy?” A small voice interrupted their banter.

Chloe turned to see her daughter entering the room, squinting against the light. “What’s wrong, Trixie?” she asked, concerned.

“I can’t sleep,” Trixie mumbled. “I’m scared.” She looked around the room, noticing that Lucifer was still there. “I want Lucifer to sing to me.”

“Trixie, I don’t think Lucifer’s feeling up for it,” Chloe told her, standing up and walking around the couch to her daughter.

“I don’t perform for audiences, child,” Lucifer added, watching them from his place on the couch.

“ _Pleeeeeeaaaase_?” Trixie begged. “I promise I’ll close my eyes. Mommy too. That way, you won’t have to be afraid of us watching you!”

Chloe sighed, leaning down to pick her daughter up.

“Trix—”

“You both promise you won’t peek?” Lucifer asked, eyes serious.

“I promise,” said Trixie. “Mommy promises, too, right?” She looked up at Chloe.

Chloe looked at Lucifer. He didn’t look uncomfortable. He looked… nervous. Maybe it really was just a bit of stage fright. “I promise I won’t look,” she confirmed.

Trixie ran around the couch and grabbed Lucifer’s hand, leading him off in the direction of her room. Chloe followed them, but Trixie stopped her when they got to her door. “Mommy, you have to wait outside so that Lucifer doesn’t get scared, okay?” she whispered.

“Okay, I’ll wait right out here in case you need me,” Chloe whispered back. Her heart warmed with the consideration her daughter was showing towards Lucifer. “I love you, monkey.”

“Love you too, mommy!” Trixie hurried into the room where Lucifer was waiting and pushed the door mostly closed.

Chloe sat down next to the door, her back to the wall. She closed her eyes, remembering her promise. A few seconds later, the music started. It was _beautiful_. It started slowly, building and growing stronger as it went. She had never heard anything like it before. She wondered if he had written the song himself. Her surroundings faded away, and she watched as colours danced on the insides of her eyelids. 

Emotions washed over her, and she felt some kind of longing. A deep nostalgia seized her, and she remembered her parents, their faces in her mind. She remembered them laughing and joking. She remembered the looks of pure adoration on their faces when they met Trixie for the first time. She remembered the last time she saw them.

And then, as suddenly as it began, the song was over. She opened her eyes, blinking. Her face was wet, and when she brought a hand to her cheek, she realized she had been crying. She wiped her face and looked up at the sound of the door opening and closing softly.

“Lucifer,” she breathed. “That was beautiful.”

“Yes, well…” He focused on something behind her, his eyes unfocused. “She’s asleep now. I think I should probably head back to Lux. It’s late.”

“Oh! Yes! Of course,” Chloe stood up, hoping her eyes didn’t reveal that she had been crying. “Let me get your shirt. You can keep that one, or if you don’t want it, just bring it the next time I see you.”

He nodded, picking up his suit jacket from the back of the couch and putting it on. Chloe grabbed the shirt that was soaking, relieved that the stain had faded somewhat. She still felt a little guilty about it, even if he could just buy a new one.

She paused at the door. “I’ll see you soon. Maybe you could give me a tour of Lux next time,” she suggested.

“I would love to, darling,” he said.

Chloe leaned forwards then, her heart beating wildly, and kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Thanks for coming,” she said, watching Lucifer’s face as his eyes widened, and he looked at her, his head cocked a little. “Be safe.”

“Thank you for having me, Sergeant.” He turned and walked to his car, and Chloe would be lying if she said he didn’t look a little dazed. She smiled, and her heart leapt at the realization that it was probably from her kiss.

* * *

As the early morning light peeked over the hilltops, Dan stumbled out onto the street. He had successfully sawn through his bonds and was now free. He was on a mission. He had not one, but two monsters to stop.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Survived the first week back at school, man it's so nice to just wake up and walk over to my computer for morning classes. I do not miss waking up at 6am to bus to campus for seminars. Also why is it that writing a 10 page paper for a class is impossible but writing a 50 page fic happens overnight? 
> 
> Thanks to [SpinnerDolphin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpinnerDolphin) for betaing this chapter!

“Trixie! You had better be dressed!” Chloe yelled over her shoulder as she collected the dirty breakfast dishes from the kitchen table. “The bus is gonna be here soon!” A door opened, and Trixie wandered out into the room. Chloe sighed with relief upon seeing that her daughter was dressed. If she could leave early for work, she might be able to pick up some overtime pay later on.

“Have you seen my ninja chemist barbie?” Trixie asked her, looking under the table.

“I’m sure it’s in your room. We cleaned up everything out here yesterday for Lucifer,” Chloe glanced around the room. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yep! Can Lucifer come over again tonight? I want him to sing to me again,” Trixie asked, her hands on her hips.

Chloe smiled down at her daughter. “Not tonight, but maybe we can invite him over again sometime soon.” She felt her cheeks flush slightly as she recalled how much she had enjoyed the previous evening.

“Oooooooh Mommy, you _liiiiiiiike_ him,” Trixie sing-songed.

Chloe felt herself blush a bit harder. “Alright, you, it’s time to go! Go get your shoes on!” she lunged forwards, tickling her daughter’s ribs. Trixie squealed and ran towards the door, giggling. Chloe watched with fondness as the little girl put on her shoes and gave her a thumbs up.

She moved forwards and opened the door, only to nearly run right into Dan. Chloe sprang back, surprised. “Dan?” 

She looked him up and down; he looked awful. His clothes were dirty and rumpled, his blue eyes dull and ringed with dark circles, and he was covered in smudges of dust and—was that blood?! “Oh my god!” she exclaimed, ushering him into the house and trying to get a closer look. There were bite marks under the dried blood which could only mean one thing. 

“Daddy?” Trixie asked, tentatively.

“It’s okay, monkey. Daddy just got hurt. Come on, let’s go out to the bus, and then Mommy will get him a bandaid.” She hustled Trixie through the door before the girl could get a better look at her father. She didn’t need to be unnecessarily scared right now.

The bus was pulling around the corner, and Chloe waited impatiently, a concerned eye on her daughter.

“Will Daddy be okay?” she asked.

“He’ll be fine. He just startled me; I wasn’t expecting to see him this morning. It looks like he has a small cut, but I’ll make sure he’s all better by the time you get home from school. And then, just to be sure, maybe we can all go get him some ice cream. What do you think?”

Trixie nodded carefully, a smile creeping onto her face. “Ice cream makes me feel better when I get hurt.” The bus came to a stop outside their house, and Chloe leaned down to kiss her daughter, before watching her climb onto it, waving. “Bye, mommy!”

“Bye, monkey!” Chloe waved back. The bus pulled away, and she waited a few seconds before hurrying back into the house.

Dan was sitting at the kitchen table, his shirt off, and Chloe examined the ugly monster bite scabbed over on his neck. “Dan, what the hell happened?!”

“I was attacked and captured… by a Malchai,” he stated wearily. “Could you…” he gestured to his neck.

“Yes, of course.” Chloe shook herself out of her shock and grabbed a towel to wet it with warm water, before coming back and attempting to clean some of the grime and blood off of Dan’s neck. He winced when she touched him, but he gritted his teeth and sat through it. “Did it do this?” she asked.

Dan nodded. “A few days ago, I was out drinking with some friends. When I left, I found Jason, he was dead—drained—and I was attacked. The Malchai caught me off guard and hit me in the head. I passed out—I don’t know for how long. When I came to, I was in a basement, tied up. I had this wound on my neck. I have no idea how many days it’s been. But the Malchai, he came back, he threatened—Chloe, he was stalking you! You and Trixie! He told me…” Dan shuddered and winced when it jostled his wound. “He told me the horrible things he wanted to do to you. I couldn’t let him—I got free while he was gone, and I came straight here. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Chloe felt her eyes go wide. The Malchai must have gotten Dan before she had ended up in the hospital. Now it made sense as to why he had been unreachable. And she hadn’t even thought to look for him. She had just assumed he was blowing her off. Her chest clenched with guilt. “I’m sorry I didn’t look for you. I was going to ask at work, I swear, I just assumed you were fine and forgot to check in. I’m so sorry Dan.” 

Dan shook his head. “It’s okay Chlo, I got out, I’m home now. I’ll protect you from this bastard.”

One thing didn’t make sense, though, and it pulled at Chloe’s mind. Monsters didn’t care about people so… “Why us? Why did he capture you and follow us?”

Dan looked away, rubbing at the marks his bindings had cut into his wrists. “I don’t know, Chlo, monsters… they’re not like us. We can’t understand their ways of thinking.” Something was off about the way he said it, but Chloe chalked it up to his recent ordeal. He was traumatized; it was no surprise his confidence was gone.

She finished wiping down his wound and went to find some gauze and a bandage for it. She dressed Dan’s shoulder and neck and checked him over for other injuries. He had a slightly tender bump on his head where he had been hit, and his wrists were raw from being bound, but otherwise, he was okay. 

“You should get some rest,” she told him. “I can ask the city guard to check out the place where the Malchai took you; maybe they can set a trap for him. I’ll also see if we can get an officer to watch the apartment, you should stay here until we can make sure your place is secure.”

“Chloe, wait,” he caught her wrist. “There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”

Chloe sighed; she might as well stay and hear him out; she wasn’t going to make it in to work early anyways. She looked at Dan, indicating she was listening.

“The Malchai… he said something… something that worried me. He told me Lucifer was a Sunai. Promise me, Chloe, promise me you won’t spend any more time with this man until we know what’s going on. I don’t trust him,” Dan looked up at her, his eyes pleading.

Chloe stepped backwards, shocked at Dan’s request. “Lucifer is _not_ a Sunai. He was here last night. We had dinner, and he ate hamburgers with us. He _saved_ my life, Dan. Tell me, what monster would do that? Lucifer is my _friend_.” She glared at Dan, her heart hammering.

“But think about it, Chloe, have you ever seen a picture of Lucifer? You probably can’t find any pictures of his face online.” Dan was standing now.

“That doesn’t mean _anything_ , Dan! We spoke last night; he’s had a rough past. I don’t blame him for wanting to keep out of the tabloids. The paparazzi are cockroaches that will do anything for a good story. You know what they did to me when my parents died! He works with a lot of famous people; he doesn’t need his reputation dragged through the mud because of his past mistakes.” She snapped. Dan glared at her, and she felt a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t Dan’s fault he had been kidnapped, but his accusations against Lucifer were outrageous. He clearly wasn’t thinking straight.

“Fine. But Sunai or not, we both know monsters can’t lie, so either someone is trying to set Lucifer up, or Mal—the Malchai was right. Either way, it means being around him isn’t safe.” With that, Dan grabbed his shirt from off the back of the chair and stomped over to the door, tugging it on. He threw it open and left, slamming it behind him.

Chloe sighed and sank into a chair. What the hell was with Dan and Lucifer? She knew they hadn’t gotten on at their first meeting, but Dan’s accusations were not rational. Chloe knew Lucifer; he had shared his story with her. There was no way a man who was trying that hard to be better; a man who cared so much about justice, could be a monster.

She also needed to talk to someone at work about the disturbing incident with the Malchai. Malchai weren’t known to kidnap their victims, so why Dan? Worry gnawed at her belly. Disagreements aside, she still cared about the man. Was this a fluke or just something they had never picked up on? She rubbed her temples, trying to make sense of it all.

Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Dan stomped down the street, his head pounding. He should have eaten something before storming off, or at least drank something. God, bloodloss sucked. But Chloe was not being rational. Couldn’t she see Dan was just trying to protect her? He just wanted to keep her and Trixie safe. 

Part of him was almost thankful for the bite wound. If he hadn’t had that, would she have even believed him about the attack? He shoved the thought down. Maybe he wasn’t being entirely fair. Sunai were rumoured to be able to control minds. Maybe Lucifer had Chloe under some sort of a hypnotic spell or something.

Well, no more.

Dan was taking matters into his own hands, and he would put an end to this.

He stopped by his apartment, making a beeline for the kitchen. He stuffed a protein bar into his mouth and washed it down with an oversweet energy drink. His next stop was the bathroom where he swallowed some pain pills for his throbbing headache before taking a shower. 

Dan ran a comb through his hair and relished in the feeling of his clean city guard uniform against his skin after so many days of wearing the same dirty outfit. Malcolm had taken his gun as well as his cellphone, but he still had a decent collection of pure iron knives and steaks. Hopefully, that would be enough. He didn’t think Lucifer suspected anything, so it shouldn’t be too hard to catch him off guard.

He double checked the locks on his apartment and drove himself to Lux. Despite it not quite being lunchtime yet, the valet for the garage was open, and Dan gave his keys to the driver before heading inside. Maybe it would have been a better idea to leave the car running out front in case things went south. Too late now. He double-checked that his knives were equipped in their places on his belt, took a deep breath, and entered the club.

Inside, it was reasonably dark. A few lights glowed around the bar and along the stairs to the elevator. Dan peered around, but the room was abandoned. It made sense as the club wouldn’t open for many hours yet, but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“Can I help you?” a voice behind him inquired.

Dan whipped around, coming face to face with a young woman. She was clad in black leather that hugged her skin, a knife dangling from her left hand, her hair braided back tightly against her scalp. “Aren’t you…?” he trailed off.

“I’m Mazikeen Smith. I live here. What are _you_ doing here?” She advanced slowly, and Dan gulped, stepping back. He’d heard stories about Mazikeen and her bounties. She was one of the best hunters out there. The rate that she brought in Malchai was unmatched.

“I was just… I was wondering where Mr. Morningstar was.” He tried to draw himself up, sticking his chin out and planting his feet in place.

Mazikeen cocked an eyebrow at him. “And what do you want with the boss?” She crossed her arms, staring him down.

“Listen. You might not realize this, but Lucifer is—” The air rushed through Dan’s ears as he was shoved back against the bar, a knife suddenly pressed to his throat.

“Finish that sentence _very carefully_ ,” Mazikeen spat. The elevator dinged, interrupting them, and Dan turned his head to the side to catch a glimpse of Lucifer as he exited the elevator and sauntered over to him.

“Maze, Maze, Maze. Let the man up. I’ve already told you, it’s not a good idea to kill this one.” He gave Mazikeen a patronizing look.

Dan let out a breath of relief as she moved off him. Good. They weren’t going to kill him—wait what? “What do you mean, it’s not a good idea to kill me?”

Lucifer huffed a laugh. “Maze here just gets a little over-excited about guests sometimes. Now, I’m assuming you have something you wanted to speak to me about?”

“He—”

“I know what you are,” Dan growled, reaching for one of his knives. Beside him, Maze tensed. “You’re a Sunai,” he spat.

Lucifer stayed where he was. He cocked an eyebrow at Dan. “Is that all you came to say?” he asked.

Dan spluttered. “Aren’t you gonna try and stop me? I’m here to end you.” Lucifer rolled his eyes. Dan stepped forwards, raising his knife. Maze stepped in front of him.

“Down girl,” Lucifer ordered.

“Lucifer—”

“It’s fine, Maze. I’ll deal with it. You’re not to hurt him.” Lucifer’s eyes were hard, and Maze stepped down, grumbling under her breath. She stomped out of the room, and then Dan was alone with the Sunai.

“You’re not going to deny it?” he asked Lucifer.

“Go home, Daniel,” Lucifer told him wearily. “I don’t have time for petty arguments right now. I’m sure your wife is worried about you. You’ve been absent for a few days.”

“What did you do to Chloe?!” Dan yelled, stepping closer, his knife in front of him. “You’re mind-controlling her! I know it!”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “I don’t ‘mind control’ people, Daniel.” He turned around and made to leave. Dan saw his opening. He lunged forwards, stabbing out with his knife, plunging it into Lucifer’s back. It hit something solid and bounced off, sending Dan crashing into the Sunai. His heart sped up. Malcolm had been right. The knife hadn’t even penetrated his skin. He tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone dry.

The next thing Dan knew, his knife was gone, and Lucifer was facing him. He was not amused. “Daniel,” he sighed. “Daniel, I’m not your enemy. I’ve already told you I’m not going to kill you, despite your sins. You can’t kill me. But you _do_ owe me a new Armani. I liked this shirt,” he huffed.

Dan didn’t know what to say. Was he seriously complaining about his _clothes_? Dan had just tried to kill him, and all Lucifer cared about was getting a replacement for his ruined shirt. “You—you—what? How do _you_ know about my sins?” Dan gaped at him.

“I’ve known since the first time I saw you. I can see it,” Lucifer stated matter-of-factly, nodding to Dan’s feet. Dan glanced down, confused. “Honestly,” Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Your shadow, Daniel. I can tell that you’ve sinned because your shadow is different. Don’t hurt yourself trying to see it, though. It’s not detectable with human eyes.”

Blood drained from Dan’s face. Lucifer _knew_. He knew what Dan had done. He knew Dan had created a Malchai. “Y—you’re not going to tell Chloe, are you?” he stuttered.

“It’s your sin to confess Daniel,” Lucifer told him. “I only dole out punishment to those who have sinned. In your case, though, I’ve decided to postpone acting because I know Chloe cares for you, and it would upset her. She would not stop searching until your killer was found, and I happen to like my life here, thank you very much.”

“But—”

“Lucifer!” a familiar-sounding voice called from the club’s entrance.

“Sergeant?” Lucifer asked. He shifted so that the slash on his back was not visible.

“Dan? What are you doing here?” Chloe was walking towards them quickly; her face was white and her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was sticking messily out of her ponytail as thoug she had been pulling at it. Something was very wrong.

“I was jus—”

“Nevermind, it’s not important. Trixie is missing.”

“What do you mean, ‘Trixie is missing’?” Dan demanded.

“She disappeared off school campus today. She never came back after recess. The school called me. They’ve searched campus for her but haven’t found anything.” Chloe was speaking very fast, her eyes darted back and forth, and she twisted her fingers together. “Do you think it has anything to do with the monster that you said was stalking you?”

“What monster?” Lucifer asked, cutting in.

Chloe turned to him. “Dan told me he was attacked and kidnapped by a Malchai a few days ago. It told him it was stalking us. Me and Trixie.”

“How long ago did—”

A vibrating sound interrupted Dan’s question. Chloe yanked her phone out of her pocket, and she answered it immediately. “This is Chloe Decker.”

Dan couldn’t hear the response, but he saw Chloe’s eyes widen in alarm. She brought the phone down and put it on speaker.

“ _Dan is with you, I presume?_ ” the voice asked. Dan shuddered. Malcolm.

“Where is she, you asshole?!” Dan demanded.

“ _Oh, don’t worry. She’s fine. Say hello._ ”

“ _Mommy? Daddy?_ ” Trixie’s voice crackled through the speaker. Dan’s heart plummeted. She sounded terrified. This was all his fault.

“Trixie?” Chloe asked, terror causing her voice to tremble.

“ _Now, Decker, Espinoza, I did you a favour, I need you to do one for me. There is a warehouse. I’ll text you the address. I want you both to come to that location. Alone. If you arrive within the next hour, your daughter will still be alive. If not…_ ” the Malchai trailed off, and the call disconnected.

Chloe was staring at the phone in silence, her eyes rimmed with red. Lucifer was still quiet, his eyes on Chloe. He shifted awkwardly. Dan felt like something was pressing on his chest. This couldn’t be happening. He had only wanted to protect them. Why couldn’t he keep them safe? His breath came in small gasps.

“I’ve never heard of a Malchai doing this before,” Chloe said. “I don’t understand. It’s like he has some personal vendetta against us. It’s not like we created him. I’ve never killed anyone before. Dan hasn’t either.”

“Actually,” Dan interrupted quietly. He tried to control his breathing. “I think I need to talk to you about something. I just wanted to protect you—Paolucci, there were rumours—the Sinnerman…”

Lucifer’s head tilted at the mention of the Sinnerman. Chloe’s face had gone white. Her hands shook, and she clenched them into fists.

“What did you do, Dan?” she asked, her voice low and dangerous.

“I killed them. Malcolm—the Malchai—he’s mine.”

_Smack_

Dan’s face stung. Chloe was glaring at him, her chest heaving, and her hand reddened from where it had made contact with his cheek. He took a shuddering breath.

“We’re going to go over there, and we are going to get our daughter back. If, _if_ we make it out alive, then we are going to go down to the courthouse, where you are going to sign the divorce papers because I am done.” Chloe’s voice was like ice.

Dan nodded and watched as she turned to Lucifer. “Lucifer, I’ll give Trixie directions to come here if something happens. I know she feels safe with you, and I trust you. It would mean the world to me if you could keep her safe until more permanent arrangements could be made.”

Lucifer stood there looking shellshocked. A spike of fear stabbed through Dan’s stomach. “You would leave our daughter with him? He’s a monster!” he yelled.

“Even if he were a monster, Dan, he’s still a better man than _you_.” Chloe snapped. With those words, she turned around and walked out of the club.

Dan felt like he had been slapped all over again. He would do anything, give anything, to be able to go back and fix things. If only he hadn’t pulled that trigger. If only he had waited.

He threw a glance at Lucifer, who was staring after Chloe, his face far away. Dan sighed and forced himself to follow her into the bright midday sun.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Please have another chapter! 
> 
> Apologies again for the delay. Last week I found out that I got a job that I had thought was no longer available, so once again I have completely rearranged my schedule. I'm actually sleeping at night like a normal person now instead of during the day like I was all summer XD 
> 
> Thanks again to [Spinner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpinnerDolphin) for betaing this one!

Lucifer watched the two humans exit his club before springing into motion.

“Maze, I need your knives!” he called out. The hunter reappeared and tossed the knives at him, not even bothering to pay attention to whether or not he caught them. Lucifer snatched them out of the air and slid them into a pocket inside his jacket.

“You’d better bring those back,” Maze warned him. “They’re my favourites.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “If anything happens to them, I’ll have new ones made for you.”

“You’d better,” she muttered.

Lucifer ignored her, moving swiftly towards the door. He was going to have to be fast in order to avoid losing the Sergeant. He hadn’t seen the address the Malchai had texted her, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to let her walk into such a blatant trap without backup.

The conversation he had witnessed earlier had been enlightening, to say the least. He knew Daniel had sinned, but he had had no idea how recent his transgression was. A part of him was relieved that the Sergeant had decided to distance herself from him because of this. He wasn’t sure why he cared so much, and he hadn’t even realized that it had been bothering him until she had spelled it out for her soon to be ex-husband. He hadn’t felt anything like this about anyone else he’d worked with, not even Delilah, but then, he’d also never been so personally involved with anyone else’s life before. Hell—he’d even sung for her and her daughter. The only other person who had heard his music and lived was Maze, and that was only because she came with him sometimes when he went hunting. She’d never asked to listen to his music, and he’d never offered.

Maybe… maybe after this fiasco with her offspring was sorted, he could talk to the Sergeant about what he was. Maybe she’d be okay with it. He knew Daniel was upset about it, but it wasn’t as though the man could kill him. If the Sergeant accepted him, then maybe the city guard would too, and he could help them. He could bring justice without having to hide. 

He reflected on what the Sergeant had told Daniel before leaving the club. _Even if he were a monster, Dan, he’s still a better man than you._ Could he be a good man? Or did being a Sunai mean he was inherently evil? He had been created from evil, yes, but he _punished_ evil. Did the fact that he took souls—lives mean that he could never be good? In the past, he had always taken his identity in stride, seeking out sinners and punishing them without question. But now, when he thought of what he was, a hollow feeling filled his chest and his insides felt like they were twisting into knots. It was new and different, and he didn’t like it one bit. 

Lucifer watched as the Sergeant’s car turned into a parking lot next to a large, nondescript warehouse. He deliberately drove past it, driving to the end of the street before turning around. Pushing his thoughts from earlier aside, he began to formulate a plan. If he revealed himself before they met the Malchai, he could put them in unnecessary danger. He parked his car next to theirs and sneaked into the building, taking care to make as little noise as possible. His keen hearing picked up voices immediately.

“…you’ll let her go. She’s innocent. She has nothing to do with this. Dan and I are here now, you have what you want,” the Sergeant was pleading. He heard the Malchai chuckle lowly, and Lucifer peered out from behind a stack of boxes to try and get a clear look at what was going on.

The Sergeant and Daniel were standing side by side facing the Malchai. Lucifer could only see the Malchai’s back from where he was, but he could tell from its body language that it thought this would be an easy fight. He could also hear breathing elsewhere in the room. Trixie must have hidden somewhere. 

“I could let her go… but now that I have you all here, there’s no reason for me to let her live. Just think, if I kill her, then she’ll be spared the pain of losing her parents,” the Malchai taunted.

“You know, it’s considered quite rude to play with your food,” Lucifer interrupted. He sauntered out from behind the boxes and the Malchai whirled to face him, caught off guard. Lucifer watched as the Sergeant took advantage of his distraction and pulled Daniel off to the side, both of them disappearing into the stacks of boxes.

“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing I don’t give a damn. I’m not trying to hide what I am, and I couldn’t care less about human social conventions,” the Malchai sneered.

“You are _such_ a messy eater. No wonder nobody can stand the Malchai. _Honestly._ ” Lucifer shook his head in mock disdain.

“This isn’t your fight, _Sunai_. Turn around and walk away. I’m not here to fight _you_ ,” the Malchai growled, flashing his teeth. “If you continue to get between me and my prey… well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Look, I understand why you would want Daniel, he created you after all, but the other two are innocent. I’ve seen their souls.”

“Hmm,” the Malchai mused, as though considering his words. “Nah, they die too. I went through all this effort to bring them here, and I’m looking forwards to a nice meal. Besides,” he added, with a toothy grin, “it will cause Dan so much _anguish_ to watch them perish.”

“I can’t let you hurt them,” Lucifer responded calmly, but firmly. He cocked his head to the side, the sound of a latch clicking into place stealing his attention. Two soft sets of footsteps followed. _Bollocks_. Humans didn’t move that quietly. More Malchai then. He’d have to act fast.

Lucifer lunged towards the Malchai in front of him, but it moved before he could reach it. A different Malchai barreled into his side, knocking him off balance. He whirled, drawing the knives from his jacket and readying for a fight. Two Malchai circled him, their bright white teeth bared and gleaming in cruel grins. 

He could still hear the humans in the room, their heart rates and breathing were accelerated in fear, but there were no sounds to indicate they were moving—good that meant they were still undiscovered. He focused all his attention on his opponents, he was going to have to bring them down quickly. He couldn’t let them find the humans.

* * *

Crouched behind a large palette of boxes, Chloe tried to spot Lucifer, but she couldn’t get a proper angle on him. She could hear him talking with the Malchai, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. At least, it didn’t sound like they were fighting yet. A small hand wound its way into hers, and she looked down and tried to offer a calming smile to her daughter.

“Chlo, we should go now. Malcolm is distracted by Lucifer, and we have a chance,” Dan whispered in her ear.

“I’m not leaving Lucifer. I don’t care what you think of him; I refuse to let him die for your mistakes. Take Trixie, get her out of here, and I’ll go help Lucifer,” she whispered back. As much as she distrusted Dan at the moment, she knew he wasn’t going to let anyone harm their daughter. 

Dan scowled at her order but took Trixie’s hand without arguing. She could tell he wasn’t happy with her decision, but there was nothing he was going to say that would change her mind. She would not leave Lucifer to die. She turned to her daughter. “Hey, monkey, I need you to go with Daddy, okay? Mommy’s going to be right behind you. I just have to go make sure Lucifer is okay first.”

Trixie nodded solemnly and gave her a hug before letting go of her hand and following Dan to the back of the warehouse. Chloe felt a wave of relief as they made it to the back door and slipped outside. She could hear scuffling coming from the other direction and headed towards the noise, finally getting a view of Lucifer.

He was engaged with a Malchai she had never seen before, their blows fast and blurred. Chloe had never seen anyone move like that before; Maze’s teaching had really paid off. No wonder she had such a high success rate with her bounties. Chloe considered asking the woman for fighting lessons as well, if she survived this.

A dead Malchai lay on the floor near where Lucifer and the other Malchai fought; a knife had been plunged up under its solid bone chest plate, and it slowly stained the ground with its black blood. As Chloe got closer, she realized it wasn’t Malcolm.

She felt the air stir behind her, and she whirled around, her heart hammering.

“Hello, Decker.” The monster grinned at her from where he had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Chloe instinctively reached a hand down to her belt, before realizing she had given up her weapons earlier, when she had been trying to convince Malcolm to let Trixie go. She was screwed. Her eyes darted up to Malcolm, who grinned and slowly began to stalk forwards.

A scream split the air and choked off with a horrible gurgling noise, causing Chloe to jump, but Malcolm was unaffected. He continued to move forward, never wavering, his red eyes fixed on Chloe and Chloe alone. Chloe kept his gaze, fighting the desire to look over her shoulder, and verify that it hadn’t been Lucifer who had made the awful sound.

“You’re _mine_ ,” Malcolm snarled, his legs tensing to leap towards her. Chloe closed her eyes and braced herself, preparing for the impact. When it didn’t come, she looked around, alarmed, and a familiar song filled her ears. Lucifer was alive!

She looked back to Malcolm, who had frozen in place, his eyes fixed on Lucifer. She could feel the song growing louder, and she felt it building in her chest and washing over her, making her feel warm and happy. She could see Lucifer now, and she squinted her eyes against the bright light he seemed to be holding. No—wait, the light was coming from his mouth? That couldn’t be right. But it was. It swirled out from him in ribbons of different colours, and they weaved around each other, forming intricate patterns in the air. It was the most beautiful thing Chloe had ever seen.

Lucifer walked over to Malcolm, holding a hand out to him, as though he were going to caress the Malchai’s face. He placed his hand on Malcolm’s neck, and a swirling black mist gathered at the surface of the Malchai’s skin, flowing from Malcolm’s body into Lucifer’s at the point where their skin met. And all of a sudden, it was over. Malcolm collapsed to the floor, dead, and Lucifer stopped singing. 

Oh God. 

Dan was right. 

Lucifer was a Sunai.

Chloe couldn’t move. Her thoughts were at war. Lucifer moved as if to step towards her but doubled over coughing. _He’s a monster_ , her mind told her. _But he saved me_ , another part of her thought. She watched him, unable to make herself run from him, but unable to go to him either. _Had it all been a trick?_ No, it couldn’t have been. His eyes were squeezed shut, and something black and horrible pulsed through his veins. He had— _oh God_ —he had sung to her and Trixie. _But he didn’t eat your souls._ He coughed some more, before collapsing to his knees and vomiting some sort of awful black goo onto the floor. _Monsters can’t lie_ , her mind helpfully reminded her. 

She would talk to him, hear him out.

Decision made, she stepped forwards, moving towards Lucifer as he gasped on the floor. He had stopped coughing up whatever the black goo was, but he hadn’t fully recovered from whatever was affecting him.

“Chloe!” Dan called from behind her. She spun around, eyes searching. “Chlo, the city guard is here, they’re going to clean up the bodies. They want your statement of what happened.” He reached her and gave her a once over. “They’re checking Trixie over now. They’ll probably want to look at you as well. Come on, Lucifer will be fine, he’s a monster.”

She nodded; she supposed her talk with Lucifer could wait a few minutes. She needed to see Trixie. She turned to follow him, before something occurred to her. She quickly walked over to Malcolm’s body and grabbed one of their discarded knives from his belt. She held it tightly around the hilt and stabbed down through his back, right into his heart. “There. Just to make sure the bastard doesn’t come back.”

Dan waved her towards the exit, and she followed him, throwing one more concerned glance over her shoulder at Lucifer. They’d be able to talk after the city guard was gone.

Her interview was pretty straightforward. She didn’t tell them about Lucifer’s true identity. She gave him credit for killing Malcolm, but they didn’t need to know the exact details of how he’d done it. Now that she’d stabbed him, there would be no way to tell that it hadn’t been what killed him anyways. Dan had kept his mouth shut too, probably in an attempt not to anger her further, but she was grateful to him, nonetheless. Their family didn’t need any more drama right now.

After her statement, the paramedics checked her over. They gave her the all-clear, and she was reunited with her daughter. Trixie was also unhurt, apart from a few bruises, although she was understandably considerably shaken, and she clung to her mother, refusing to talk to anyone else.

Chloe waited in the parking lot and kept her eyes open for Lucifer, as the city guard burned the remains of the dead Malchai. No one else came out of the warehouse, so she walked over to her coworkers, inquiring whether or not they had seen the club owner. They all shook their heads and shrugged, one of them musing that he must have gone home to clean up.

Chloe took another quick survey of the area, but Lucifer was nowhere to be found. Eventually, she, Trixie, and Dan were the only ones left, and she conceded that it was time to go home. Maybe it was better not to get involved in this. Maybe it would be better if she didn’t see Lucifer again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about this chapter: this is when the trigger warning for eating disorder becomes relevant, specifics in the end notes. Please take care of you!
> 
> Thanks to [Spinner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpinnerDolphin) for the beta!

Chloe stumbled into the base’s locker rooms, desperate for a shower. It had been a long night. The Malchai were growing bolder, more organized. The frequency of attacks had skyrocketed the last few months, and the city guard was stretched thin, trying to protect the citizens of Los Angeles. Or at least the citizens that were deemed monetarily necessary.

It had been nearly three months since the incident with Dan’s Malchai. Chloe had thrown herself into her work in the aftermath. Whispers and rumours of the mysterious Sinnerman and his trained monsters ran rampant, and she made it her personal mission to track him down. She and Dan had finalized their divorce, and he no longer worked for the city guard. Killing someone was a serious offence, and the guard was strict in its no monster creation policy. As far as Chloe knew, Dan was working for some private security group that wasn’t as picky about its employees. She didn’t talk to him much, really only making an effort for Trixie’s sake.

Chloe unlocked her locker and pulled out a change of civilian clothes and a towel, heading off to the showers. She peeled off her uniform; it wasn’t too bad tonight, only a few splatters of blood. Last night, she had to pick pieces of gore out of her hair, and it hadn’t been the first time. She turned on the shower and stepped under the flow. The water was warm, and she let it roll over her, soothing her aching muscles.

She thought of home, how she’d arrive just as Trixie and Marcus were getting up. She felt her cheeks warm as she thought of Marcus. He was an ex-military man who worked as a civil servant now. They’d met at one of the city coordination meetings. He was one of the corporate heads of the city guard; he worked on budgeting and logistics, making sure their force was well supplied, and their salaries were paid.

The meeting had been called to discuss the dramatic rise in both crime and monster attacks. Three members of the city guard had been killed on one call alone, and the mayor had demanded that they meet and discuss new strategies with their superiors. Chloe had spoken up about the less watched areas of the city, especially neighbourhoods where lower-income families lived. Some people had smirked and rolled their eyes or just outright ignored her, but Marcus had taken her question seriously and explained that they planned to add more people to the city guard to hopefully cover these blind spots.

After the meeting, she had gone to thank him personally, and he had asked if she had wanted to get dinner. He was a very charming man, with lots of ideas about how the city should be run, including improving patrols in low-income neighbourhoods. They’d gone on several more dates following that one. The most memorable for her had been the afternoon they’d spent on the beach together. 

She’d brought Trixie to meet him that time, and he had been good with her, even letting her order him around to construct a sandcastle. Later, they’d talked, and Chloe had confessed how much she worried about Trixie’s safety, and how she hated to leave her daughter to go to work. The feeling had only grown worse since the incident with Dan’s Malchai, and she could only take so much time off. In response to her concerns, Marcus had offered to pay for Trixie to take a self-defence class. He’d also offered to stay over to watch Trixie on the nights that Chloe worked the night shift. He had more regular hours and could work from home some days, and he insisted it was no trouble, especially if it meant she would have more peace of mind. 

Chloe was touched by the effort Marcus made for her daughter. It was part of the reason why, when he’d proposed a week ago on their two-month anniversary, she’d said yes. Part of her was worried that it was too soon, but she knew Trixie needed a stable life. Marcus could provide that. He had money and lived in a good location. It was a secure neighbourhood in one of the better off areas of LA; the streets were well lit and there were regular nightly patrols. Trixie would be able to go to a better school, and most importantly, she would be safe there.

She grew fonder of him still, when he made an effort to involve her in the upcoming budget plans for the city guard, given that they had bonded over their shared dream to improve the city. They would stay up late discussing ideas such as the benefits of increasing patrols in certain areas of the city and identifying the most vulnerable neighbourhoods. Her favourite nights, though, were the ones when he brought over a case of beer and maybe even a chocolate cake for Trixie, and the three of them would relax and watch a movie together—chosen by Trixie, of course. It was the first semblance of normal she’d had in her life for years. The fact that she found Marcus easy on the eyes was just an extra benefit.

Her shower finished, Chloe packed up her things and headed out to her car. The sun was just peaking over the tops of the skyscrapers as she exited the parking garage and started home. After some sleep, she could continue packing. Now that she was engaged to Marcus, she and Trixie would be moving into his place downtown. Currently, the apartment was a mess of boxes and bags as Chloe tried her best to figure out which things to take and which items were just junk and could be thrown out or donated.

Chloe’s mood brightened as she pulled up to her home. She parked her car and entered her apartment, only to be cornered and attacked by an enthusiastic Trixie.

“Mommy!”

“Hey, monkey! Did you sleep well? Were you good for Marcus?” Chloe asked, hugging her daughter back.

“She was a total sweetheart,” Marcus insisted, coming to stand near the door. “Welcome home. How was your shift?”

Chloe made her way inside, closing the door behind her. “Tonight wasn’t too bad. Not as bad as last night. I’m still exhausted, though,” she said, giving him a weary smile.

He leaned forwards and put his arms around her, and she felt herself relax against him. He was warm and his familiar scent of aftershave comforted her. She sighed happily, glad to be home. When she pulled back, he leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips and smiled, before turning and heading towards the kitchen. “I’ve made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.”

Chloe’s stomach rumbled in response, and she followed him into the kitchen. She and Trixie sat down at the table, and Marcus served them before joining them for breakfast. They all ate together, and Trixie told stories about school and explained her latest drawings. Marcus told jokes and they laughed together. If she tried hard enough, she could almost convince herself that The Phenomenon had never happened, and the monsters had never been created. No Corsai, Malchai, or Sunai. Sunai… her thoughts drifted to a different meal, almost three months ago. Guilt clawed at her stomach, and her appetite disappeared as she stared emptily at the steaming eggs in front of her.

“Chloe? Is everything okay?” Marcus was frowning at her, a concerned look on his face. It was one of the many things she loved about him, he was always so considerate and quick to notice when she was upset.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Everything’s okay.” Chloe forced a smile onto her face and pushed the queasy feeling away. She had nothing to worry about anymore. Her life was perfect.

* * *

The alcohol sizzled as it splashed over Lucifer’s tongue. It tasted like ash. He quickly swallowed the mouthful of fluid before it could entirely evaporate and relished the feeling of his mouth being coated in its disappointing flavour. If only he could taste human food, gain nourishment from it, all his problems would be solved.

He raised a hand to his eyes, watching as his bones glowed white-hot—hotter than any human could survive. He laughed in crazed delight, losing his balance and stumbling against the bar. Delirium. It felt so good, so _human_. He grinned, grabbing an iron knife from the bar, he drew it across his palm and watched in fascination as his skin parted and black blood welled up around the blade.

The elevator dinged, and Maze stomped out into the penthouse, an unconscious man slung over her shoulder. Lucifer didn’t even look up. He continued to stare at his hand, lifting the fingers from his other hand and tracing them through the blood.

“Lucifer? What the fuck are you doing?!” Maze yelled at him, yanking the knife from his grip. She had set the man down somewhere while he hadn’t been paying attention. No matter, it wasn’t important anyway. “ _Lucifer!_ ”

“Look, Maze, I’m almost human,” he whispered to her.

“Fuck, Lucifer, you cannot keep doing this. You need to eat. When was the last time you ate?” Maze demanded.

“So bossy,” Lucifer mumbled.

“Lucifer, so help me, I cannot keep picking your ass up and feeding you every time you refuse to eat. It’s been nearly three months. I’m done. This is the last one. That guy over there created a Malchai two days ago. He’s from a gang. No one will trace his death back to you. From now on, you either get your own food, or you go dark. I’m not a babysitter,” Maze snapped, before turning and stomping out.

Maze was gone now. First the Sergeant, now Maze. Proof that humans and monsters were never meant to be friends. He didn’t deserve friends. Lucifer tried to remember the last time he had gone dark. It was a few weeks before he had met Maze. He hadn’t gotten the hang of things yet, and he was hungry but couldn’t find any sinners. He’d gone through the stages of withdrawal, but he hadn’t recognized them as such then. Now, though, he was all too familiar with them.

He knew it was starting when every little thing started to set him off. Then, his rage grew until it fed the tempers of those around him, creating a positive feedback loop that was difficult to break. Next came, what he liked to call, the drunken stage. He imagined it was akin to what a human might feel after they had partaken of too many illicit substances: hallucinations, visions, disorientation. The third stage, pure elation, was also the best, in his mind. It all culminated in the deep, soul crushing sorrow of the final stage. 

That night all those years ago, he hadn’t yet discovered the pattern. He’d been overtaken with a horrible sensation of emptiness and curled up in a ball on the street, trying to find reprieve. When he went dark, it was both like taking a breath of fresh air and losing himself at the same time. Eleven people who had been in the surrounding area were killed. He learned their names from the paper in the following days, and committed them to memory, vowing never again to cause such needless destruction.

That was the biggest problem with going dark. It consumed everyone, not just the guilty.

Right now, he could feel the beginnings of the third stage creeping into his mind, begging him to laugh and sing and dance. It had been just over a week since he had last eaten. Normally, he could go about a week before he started to feel the adverse effects of starving himself. That was all old news to him. But this vulnerability was new. 

He had discovered it by accident in the weeks following the incident with the Sergeant and the Malchai. He had been lying low in the event that the city guard decided to come after him and, as a result, hadn’t been eating as regularly as he normally would have. He knew the Sergeant had seen him—knew what he was, but back then he still had hope. Hope that maybe she would come back, talk to him about what she had seen. He had been hungry, he’d fought with Maze, his rage feeding her frustration, and he had broken a glass in his hand. The glass had sliced right into his palm instead of sliding off as it normally would. 

The sight of his own blood had mesmerized him. He had never thought to test how starvation affected his body physically. Since then he had reduced his diet significantly. The weaker he got, the more vulnerable—the more _human_ he felt. Every time he stopped eating, he pushed his body to the edge in hopes that maybe something would change. Maybe this time it would be different.

He didn’t have long now though, a day or two at most, before he was at risk of obliterating his entire club and everyone in the building. He couldn’t have that. Maze was right, he needed to eat something before it was too late. He could try again next week if nothing happened.

Lucifer righted himself and sauntered over to the piano. He sat down at the bench and began to play. He sighed softly as the music washed over him, and he turned to the man who was still unconscious on his couch. The man’s soul had started to glow bright crimson, the colour of sin. He stood up, the effects of his music lingering in the air, and he made his way over to the man. He looked so peaceful lying there. Innocent. But he was a sinner, he had hurt people, and it was Lucifer’s job to punish him. He reached out, the palm of his hand coming into gentle contact with the glowing skin of the unconscious man’s cheek. 

The soul filled him with warmth as he consumed it, and he shuddered as he felt the euphoric sensation of its power coursing through his body. The light died down, and Lucifer took his hand off the man, the cut on his palm gone, not even a scar in its place. The man lay on the couch, dead, burnt holes where his eyes had been. He’d have to get rid of the body later. For now, though, it could lie there. A grim reminder that no matter how hard he pretended otherwise, Lucifer couldn’t fight his nature. He would always be a monster.

He turned and wandered back to the bar, where he poured himself another glass of expensive whiskey and knocked it back, mourning a flavour he’d never known. 

* * *

Maze paced across the empty dance floor of Lux. The club would be opening in an hour, and Lucifer hadn’t done anything to prepare a setlist. He didn’t give a shit about which artists played anymore. He just absently nodded and accepted whichever names she shoved in front of him. He also hadn’t taken on anyone to study with him since before he had met Chloe Decker. Somehow, the woman had discovered his true identity and ran. Just like any sensible human being would have. Lucifer had responded by throwing a temper tantrum and then stopped eating, like some entitled, overgrown toddler. Maybe Maze should have run in the opposite direction too. She wasn’t getting paid enough for this. 

Maze _hated_ feelings. She would much rather fight it out, but for Lucifer’s sake—and her own dwindling sanity—she had tried. She had tried to ask him about what happened at the warehouse, but he had been silent about the details. The only thing she managed to get out of him was that ‘ _she_ knew’. Maze had assumed the ‘she’ in this scenario was Decker, and that she now knew that Lucifer was a monster. But then nothing had happened. The city guard didn’t show up demanding the death of the Sunai. If she knew, then she was certainly keeping quiet about it. What exactly had he done? Was she scared? 

Fuck it. She was done. She was done taking care of Lucifer, and she’d meant what she’d said to him. She wouldn’t be bringing him any more meals. All he did was sit around and mope and waste expensive alcohol that could have been used for the club’s patrons. He refused to help with the club or meet with any musicians, and he was a mess. His suit had scorch marks and holes in it from where it had been sitting against his burning skin, and he hadn’t even noticed. If he didn’t want to eat, then he could go dark and deal with the consequences himself. Maze would make sure she was long gone by then. 

There was one last thing she had to try first, though. One last loose end to tie up. She was going to pay Chloe Decker a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eating disorder warning: Assuming Chloe has rejected what he is, Lucifer stops consuming souls, effectively starving himself until he has no choice but to eat or cause severe damage to others, and this has adverse effects on his mental state.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to SpinnerDolphin and HircineTaoist for betaing!

Chloe gently placed photos into a box, being sure to pad them with the blankets that had been on her couch. She had made decent progress in the living room, despite only having been awake for an hour. The afternoon light streamed in through the windows, and she contemplated what she would make Trixie for supper. Marcus would be spending the night at his place, since she had the night off and wanted to spend the evening packing.

Her meandering thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. It was too early for Trixie to be home… Chloe picked herself up and ran her hands through her hair, hoping she didn’t look too messy. She opened the door, and upon seeing who it was, nearly closed it again.

“Maze! What a surprise! How have you been?”

“Cut the crap, Decker,” snapped the other woman, shoving past Chloe into the house. Chloe stumbled out of the way, trying to give her space.

“What’s wrong?” Chloe asked. Why was Maze here? Maybe she just needed intel for her latest bounty. As long as it didn’t have anything to do with—

“What’s _wrong_? Lucifer is a fucking mess because of you. He won’t come out of his room. He won’t do any of the work for the club. He won’t even _eat_. All he does is sit there and mope and try to get drunk!” Maze snapped, advancing on Chloe.

“I thought Sunai couldn’t—”

“They _can’t_ , but that hasn’t stopped him from trying. It’s pathetic. And it’s all your fault. You need to go see him. I’m sick and tired of babysitting him.” Maze spun and threw herself on the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

“You’re killing people for him?” Chloe whispered, feeling the blood drain from her face.

Maze scoffed. “No, of course not. He doesn’t need me to kill people for him. That kinda defeats the purpose, anyway. Dead people don’t have souls.”

Chloe sank to the floor, feeling dizzy. She knew what Lucifer was, and he had to survive somehow, but her mind hadn’t actually visualized him killing people to feed. She shuddered. Maybe she could convince Marcus to take them out of LA. Away from all this.

“Decker. Decker!” Maze was snapping her fingers at Chloe. “Look, there is no reason for you to be freaking out like this. It’s not like he’s gonna show up and kill you. He’s… a very picky eater.” She smirked. “He doesn’t kill innocents. You should talk to him. Hear him out. Or at least let him off the hook, because if he doesn’t start eating properly again, people are going to die, and not just the guilty.”

“What—what do you mean?”

Maze sighed. “I don’t know how much you know about Sunai, but they feed off of souls, right? And if they don’t eat, they don’t die, they ‘go dark’. Basically, they lose control. Everyone nearby dies. _Everyone._ Innocent, guilty, young, old. If you go see him, even just to tell him you don’t want to see him again, maybe he’ll finally be able to move on.”

“But… what if he ‘goes dark’ while I’m there?” Chloe tried not to meet Maze’s gaze.

“Relax, he just ate. I brought him something this morning. Some asshole who killed his wife.” Maze leaned forwards. “So? You going?”

Chloe’s thoughts twisted around themselves. She had no idea a monster could have such complicated feelings. No—maybe it was a trap? But Maze had said he didn’t know she had come to Chloe’s place. Perhaps she could just go to Lux, peek inside, tell him she wasn’t interested in seeing him again, and then leave. She nodded to herself. Yeah. That could work. “Okay, I’ll do it. Just to… give him some closure. But then I’m done.”

Maze nodded. “Alright, Decker! I knew you had it in you.” She sprang up, leaned over, and punched Chloe in the shoulder. Chloe rubbed her arm. God, that woman hit hard. She looked up and waved awkwardly as Maze let herself out, shutting the door too loudly. A few seconds later, Chloe heard her motorcycle rumble to life and then fade into the distance.

She gathered herself up and took a deep breath. In and out. She could do this.

* * *

The drive to Lux was uneventful but seeing Lucifer—that was a whole different matter. She took the elevator up to his penthouse and peered out into the room. He sat at the piano, hunched over, a glass of alcohol in his hand. She watched as he tossed it back and made a face. She wondered what human food tasted like to him. His appearance, usually something he took such pride in, was in complete disarray. His suit was rumpled, as though he had slept in it. His suit jacket was missing, as were his cufflinks, and his sleeves were rolled up around his elbows. The strangest thing, though, were the holes. His clothes were covered in tiny scorch marks, and she could see flashes of pale skin in places where the material had been burned through completely. _What the hell?_

Maze was right; he was a mess. He looked so lost and dejected and _human_ sitting there, and part—if not all—of that had been her fault. Her heart ached and a pang of guilt surged through her, as she remembered everything he had done for her. He had saved her life, not once but _twice_. Then, there was the time he came over for dinner. He had brought them food and eaten with them, then sung to her daughter to help her sleep. And after, the stories he had shared... monsters couldn’t lie…

“Mazikeen!” he purred. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away. You just can’t resist my charm.”

“Actually… I’m not Maze,” Chloe mumbled, her face flushed.

Lucifer stiffened where he sat at the piano but made no move to turn around. He slowly and carefully set the glass tumbler down on top of the instrument. “Sergeant.” His voice was flat, all hint of teasing gone.

“Um.” Chloe hesitated. “Maze came to see me. She asked me to visit.” She spoke tentatively, shuffling closer to the piano. Her movements felt awkward and out of sync and she twisted her fingers together in a failed effort to calm her nerves. Her heart beat hard and fast in her chest, and she felt overwhelmingly self conscious about it. Could monsters hear that sort of thing? Probably. 

“Did she now? Lovely. Well, you’ve visited, you’ve fulfilled your task, you can go now,” Lucifer snapped, finally turning around to face her. His hair was a mess and fell into his dark eyes. He made no move to get up from the piano bench.

“I’m not leaving. I came to hear your side of things.” Chloe stepped forwards again.

Lucifer scoffed. “Right. Let’s not play pretend. You’re terrified of me.”

“I—yes, but I’m also worried about you. I was wrong to stay away, I’m sorry. I was going to talk to you after—after the incident with Malcolm, but then Dan wanted the paramedics to look me over, and the city guard wanted to talk to me, and I had to check on Trixie, and then you were gone. I looked, and I asked around, but you had disappeared.” She looked down at her hands. “I should have come here afterwards, I know that now, but I was scared, and then work got busy, and I met—nevermind. It’s not important. I’m sorry.” Her fingers had wound themselves into the hem of her shirt while she spoke. She looked up and tried to meet Lucifer’s gaze.

“Fine,” Lucifer sighed. “You can ask your questions.” He looked exhausted. Chloe made her way over to the piano bench, but Lucifer stood up and gestured at the couch. “It’ll be more comfortable if we sit here.” He took a place in one of the armchairs and she perched on the couch across from him.

Chloe swallowed, feeling a little overwhelmed. Had anyone else ever had the opportunity to talk candidly with a Sunai like this? She took a deep breath and let it out. “Why do you have a British accent?” she blurted out, and immediately clamped her mouth shut, regretting it. _Of all the questions, Chloe, why on earth would you ask that one?_

Lucifer looked just as surprised as she felt, and he blinked for a second before replying. “I’ve tried out several accents, but this one is _clearly_ the best.” He raised an eyebrow, and she caught a glimpse of his old self for a second before it faded away. 

She offered him a small smile in return, before trying to think of another question. There was one thing in particular that bothered her the most. Lucifer was a monster, he _killed_ people, but the man she had gotten to know all those months ago had also seemed to _care_ about people. She fiddled with the hemline of her shirt some more and gathered her courage. He couldn’t lie to her, so at least she’d know every word out of his mouth would be the truth, or at least his version of it. “So… um, Maze told me—well, she said that—that your victims are all guilty. Why only the guilty? And how do you know they’re even guilty in the first place?”

Lucifer winced a little at her use of the word ‘victims’, but otherwise kept his expression schooled. When he spoke, his response sounded steady, if not slightly rehearsed. “I don’t hurt innocent people. I can tell if someone is guilty on sight; guilty people have a different shadow. Humans can’t see it. It’s darker, and it moves on its own. I saw Daniel’s shadow when I first met him—that’s how I knew he was a douche.”

Chloe’s eyes widened as she realized what that meant. “But you didn’t…” she trailed off.

“No, I didn’t hurt Daniel. Taking his soul would have upset you,” Lucifer stated matter-of-factly, like the answer should have been obvious. 

Chloe didn’t know what to think. She was just extremely grateful that Lucifer hadn’t killed Dan, but “So you just… ignored him? Just like that? Was it... hard?”

“Not particularly. I felt drawn to him, yes, but I could ignore it. I assume it’s similar to when you see a food you are not allowed to eat,” he shrugged.

Chloe shivered, unsettled by how casually he discussed consuming humans. She tried to reassure herself, but she was struggling.

“He was never in any immediate danger,” Lucifer added softly, noticing her reaction. “I can’t just walk up to people and steal their souls. I need to draw them out first. That’s the reason why I don’t perform for people. You know the children’s rhyme. My music draws souls out. They glow, and then everyone can see them then, not just me. The souls of the guilty glow red.

“So… you… I mean it’s only the souls of people who have this… red glow?” Chloe interrupted. Her mind raced as she tried to understand. “But... where does the glow even come from?”

“Only humans who have created monsters have the red glow,” Lucifer informed her. “I can…” He sighed and looked down. “It requires skin to skin contact—reaping souls. And I cannot take an innocent soul. Even upon contact.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I could, of course, kill a person in any manner of ways available to humans, but I would never do that. I punish the guilty, Sergeant. I deliver justice, and I _don’t_ kill innocents.” Lucifer’s insistence was firm, his tone unwavering.

His response calmed her somewhat. Part of her was still terrified, but the other part couldn’t look away. She had no idea he felt so strongly about what he did, and the depth of his emotion took her by surprise.

“Wait. What about other monsters? Can you eat them?” she asked, remembering the last time they had been in the same room. “When you fought the Malchai you were using knives, but then you sang and what—consumed Malcolm? And something went wrong, you were sick. You were coughing up some sort of strange black substance. I saw you.”

Lucifer sighed and made a face as he remembered the event. “That was a particularly unfortunate decision of mine. I should have just stabbed him,” he huffed. “Monsters can’t consume each other. We don’t get any sustenance from it. In fact, we’re actually quite toxic to each other. What you saw was my body’s reaction to consuming his… I’m not entirely sure what it was, to be honest, but it was bloody awful! I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Chloe ducked her head down in guilt at his response. He had, after all, consumed Malcolm to save her. “Thank you,” she told him, looking up again.

He gave her a slight smile. “Of course, Sergeant. I couldn’t let him hurt you—I mean you’re—you didn’t deserve—you’re welcome,” he finished, slightly flustered by her gratitude.

All this information was so new to Chloe. How many people knew that Sunai could only feed off of the souls of those who had already created monsters? If this information were more widely available, Sunai might actually be able to work _with_ the city to deal with the monster problem, instead of being hunted by them. “Why don’t more people know these things? Is it supposed to be a secret or something?”

Lucifer huffed in amusement. “Not that I’m aware. We’re not common—luckily. As you probably know, it takes quite a disastrous event to create us. We also blend in better with humans. Corsai and Malchai are obviously not human at first glance. We are… more subtle.”

His admission sparked a memory of their conversation months ago. “You said you woke up at the scene of the terrorist attack... You weren’t caught in the attack, though, were you? You were created as a result of the attack,” she realized out loud, her eyes widening. 

“Yes. I was,” Lucifer confirmed. His gaze grew distant, as though he were remembering. “I still hear echoes of the screams, the explosions. I had no idea who I was or what was happening. There were so many bodies.” He broke off. “I’m sorry it was your parents’ deaths that created me.”

Chloe shook her head. “No. That’s not your fault, Lucifer. You didn’t choose to exist any more than we chose to be born. Their deaths were the fault of the man who set off the bombs.” 

She went over the night they had talked in her head, remembering what he had told her. “So, then after you were created, you met Maze, and the two of you started Lux together. And… what about your stars? You said they were tattoos marking the days since you last gave in…”

“Ah. My stars.” Lucifer looked down at his arms and held them out, displaying the tiny black stars peeking out from under his shirt sleeves. “They _are_ tattoos, in a way. They appear on their own every morning. I have one for every day since I last went dark.”

Chloe nodded in amazement. That was fascinating, and the stars were so beautiful. She leaned forwards, examining them until Lucifer shifted, and she realized she had been staring. She leaned back quickly and cleared her throat, embarrassed. “Uh. Maze also mentioned that— ‘going dark’. She said it happens when you lose control, that it destroys everything nearby. I suppose that must be where we get the horrifying stories about Sunai destroying entire city blocks.”

Lucifer looked down at his hands. “You remember what I told you about Dan? About how I could ignore him? Well, just like humans, I can’t go forever without eating. If I don’t eat I… ‘go dark’. I lose myself. I can’t control who lives and who dies. But Sergeant, you must understand, that’s not me. I’m not—I wouldn’t—I don’t want that. I don’t want to be… _that_ ,” he whispered, his hands coming up to rub his face. 

Chloe was caught off guard by his response. She felt her heart ache for him, and she wished she could do something to make him feel better. “It’s okay, Lucifer. It’s okay, I know you wouldn’t, I know you try.” And as she heard herself say it, she knew she wasn’t just saying it to reassure him. She was saying it because she believed it. 

“You know,” she continued, trying to distract him, “one thing I still don’t understand is why you call yourself Lucifer. I mean, of all the names to pick, why would you pick the name of the devil? If you’d had parents who had forced it upon you, that would have been one thing, but you didn’t have parents, so why would you pick something so closely associated with evil?”

The effect of her question on Lucifer was noticeable, and he lifted his face from his hands to look at her. Some of the confidence Chloe remembered from when she’d first met him returned. “As part of my self education on humanity, I read a lot about your religions. Humans are really quite fascinating, and I enjoyed getting to learn about the vast and rich cultures of the past and present. I suppose I was drawn to the character of Lucifer because he was also a punisher of sinners. I felt like the name was fitting, the associations with light and music and desire, but also hell, felt right. Humans think monsters—Sunai—are evil because of what we are, and I feel like the devil is also a victim of that assumption. If his job is to punish evil doers, then he’s not actually evil, is he? It’s not _his_ fault humans choose to do bad things; he’s just making the best out of a bad situation.”

Chloe sat back, blinking. The amount of thought he had put into his name, and by extension the devil, surprised her. The way he explained it was so poetic and beautiful. So _emotional_. It also made her think—about her assumptions of good and evil, about the assumptions she had made about monsters and Lucifer. But… the truth, the truth was that he might be the most human of all of them, with his hopes and dreams, his drive to make sure that those who had committed wrongs were brought to justice, and his desire to make the world a better place for everyone. She had never really thought about it like that before. Feelings that Chloe had thought long gone stirred, filling her chest with warmth, and she smiled at Lucifer. “You’re right; it does fit. I think you made a good choice.”

“Of course, Sergeant, my decisions are always the best,” Lucifer said, winking at her.

Chloe laughed, the tension she had felt since she had entered the penthouse dissipating. The buzz of her phone interrupted her—Trixie. “Crap. I’ve gotta get back, Trixie’s on her way home, and I have to get some food started for supper. But Lucifer,” she stood up and walked closer. “I want to continue seeing you. I was wrong to run. I’m so sorry for the hurt I caused you. I want to repair our friendship, if you’re okay with that?”

“I think I’d like that, Sergeant,” Lucifer told her softly, standing up as well. He looked… hopeful again, and Chloe felt herself returning the feeling.

“Do you, uh, do you want to come for dinner next week? I mean—I know you don’t eat food, but you can still come, and we can sit and talk, and I’m sure Trixie would be excited to see you,” Chloe said a little awkwardly. She hoped he didn’t take offence at her invitation. Now that she knew what he was, was it insensitive to have him sit there while they ate? Maybe it would have been better to invite him over after dinner. 

“That sounds lovely, Sergeant. I’ll be there,” Lucifer confirmed, and her worries dissipated.

“Great! I still have your number; I can text you Marcus’s address. Marcus is my fiancé, I’d love for you to meet him,” Chloe added, smiling. If everything went well, maybe she could tell Marcus about Lucifer, and they could figure out a way for Lucifer to help with the city guard—if he still wanted to of course.

“Oh, lovely, another douche for me to protect you from,” Lucifer replied, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

Chloe rolled her eyes at him fondly and shook her head as she headed to the elevator. She was going to have to thank Maze for kicking her ass over here.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Spinner for betaing this chapter!

Lucifer pulled up the drive at the address the Sergeant had texted him. The house was modern looking, in a rather affluent gated neighbourhood. He was looking forward to seeing the Sergeant again. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed her until they had started talking again the week before. The relief and lightness he was experiencing baffled him. Interactions with the Sergeant were a novelty, and like a junkie chasing a new high, he was hooked. It had never been like this with Maze. She was fascinating and also quite necessary, but she didn’t hold his thoughts the way the Sergeant did, and he had no idea what that meant.

He walked up the stairs to the front door, a bottle of rather expensive wine in hand. He knocked gently on the door and waited, listening to the sounds of movement inside the house. He could hear someone rapidly approaching and the clicks as the door was unlocked. All of a sudden, the door swung open and he was brutally attacked by the Sergeant’s offspring.

“Lucifer!” she yelled, throwing herself forwards and wrapping her arms snuggly around his waist.

Lucifer kept very still, afraid that any sudden movement might damage the small human. “Hello,” he offered nervously.

“Trixie, let Lucifer come in, honey,” the Sergeant said, appearing behind her, laughter in her voice. The sound caused something warm to bloom in Lucifer’s chest. He held the bottle of wine out in front of the child, hoping that she would take the bribe and release him. It worked and she unwrapped her arms, grabbing the alcohol and examining it carefully.

“Hey, mom—”

“No,” The Sergeant answered her, leaning forwards and plucking the bottle from her offspring’s grasp. 

The child pouted but relented and headed into the house. Lucifer followed her, trying to make sense of the exchange he had just witnessed. It must have been some strange human thing, and he made a mental note to ask Maze about it later.

The Sergeant stopped Lucifer as he stepped over the threshold, a nervous look suddenly coming over her face. Lucifer felt his heart skip a beat. Something was wrong. She had changed her mind about having him in her life.

“Um… I know I told you you didn’t have to eat anything at dinner, but Marcus is going to be eating with us and um, I haven’t had a chance to tell him about uh.” She gestured vaguely to him. “I mean, I wanted to discuss Marcus’s city guard plans while you were here, but is it ok if we wait until after Trixie goes to bed? She still has nightmares sometimes and… well, I don’t like discussing, you know, that sort of thing, around her.” She glanced down and then up at him, her eyes apologetic.

Lucifer huffed a laugh, relieved. She wasn’t sending him away! “Of course, I don’t mind. I eat your food all the time, it’s not going to hurt me.”

The Sergeant immediately looked relieved. “Thank you. I’m looking forward to going over the plans with you later. I think you’ll have some unique insights on how to manage the monsters.” Her smile from earlier had returned, and she eagerly led Lucifer deeper into the house. 

The modern architecture theme continued inside, but otherwise, the interior was sparsely decorated. The walls were lined with boxes, though, bursting with items, and upon walking into the main room of the house, he noticed a rather ridiculous amount of rocks lining the shelves of the house. It wasn’t as bad as the rapper’s mansion, but it was still an odd choice. 

“This is Marcus’s place. Sorry about the mess, Trixie and I are in the middle of moving in. It’s uh, a lot safer than where we currently live, and ever since the incident with Malcolm…” she trailed off. 

Lucifer nodded in understanding. Humans were living creatures, and he knew from his research that living creatures valued safe places to raise their offspring. What he didn’t understand, though, was why her choice of _this_ location in particular made his chest feel tight.

The Sergeant gestured to a man standing in the kitchen, and he turned around as they approached. He was tall, as tall as Lucifer, and quite muscular. He had short brown hair and an army tattoo on his bicep that was just visible under his t-shirt sleeve. “Marcus, this is Lucifer Morningstar, Lucifer, this is Marcus Pierce, my fiancé,” the Sergeant introduced them. 

The tight feeling was back. Lucifer ignored it.

“Lucifer, huh? Quite a unique name you’ve got there.” Pierce raised an eyebrow and held his hand out for Lucifer to shake.

“Yes, well, my birth was quite the unique event,” Lucifer replied with a smirk. He stepped forwards to take Pierce’s hand, freezing halfway through the gesture. 

Pierce’s shadow was moving. 

It roiled and squirmed, oblivious to the bright kitchen lights.

The sound of Pierce clearing his throat jarred Lucifer out of his train of thought, and he hastily took the man’s hand and shook it before letting it go. Pierce flexed his hand subtly and Lucifer tried not to react. So, what if he had squeezed tighter than normal? This man clearly had secrets. Dangerous ones. _Bollocks._ He had to get the Sergeant alone.

“Se—”

“Trixie! Come set the table!” the Sergeant called. Her offspring dashed into the room and Lucifer watched her out of the corner of his eye as she began stacking dishware into a precarious tower. 

“You’re famous right? Some sort of fancy music teacher for the rich and famous? And don’t you also run a restaurant?” Pierce asked, nodding at Lucifer.

“Lux is a club. LA’s finest,” Lucifer corrected him. “And I’m not a ‘ _fancy music teacher’_ ,” he huffed. This man was worse than Daniel. Where on earth did the Sergeant find them? 

“Lucifer’s more of a music curator. He helps talent scouts discover new artists. And of course, he occasionally mentors them. He’s very good at what he does, and a lot of popular musicians have come to him for advice,” the Sergeant elaborated. 

Lucifer preened at her description of him. 

“Huh,” Pierce said, clearly unimpressed.

Prick. Lucifer glared at him. Well, he could think what he wanted. Judging from his choice of house decor, the man had no taste whatsoever. Besides, Lucifer knew his secret, and he was not going to let him get away with it.

The Sergeant’s offspring suddenly reappeared, somehow having managed to carry all those plates and glasses to the table without breaking anything. “Table’s ready!” she called out in a singsong voice. 

“All right, monkey, wash your hands and we’ll eat!” the Sergeant replied. She passed both Pierce and Lucifer dishes of food to take out to the table. 

Lucifer tried his best to remain civil during the meal, but he couldn’t help but continue to be infuriated by the other man. He could tell his behaviour was upsetting the Sergeant, but he had a hard time caring about what the other man thought of him. He was a sinner, potentially even a murderer. Either way, he had hurt another human being. The sooner Lucifer could talk to the Sergeant alone, the better. She and her offspring had almost died once because of a guilty man’s foolish errors. He forced down another ash flavoured bite of whatever pasta dish they were eating, rinsing out his mouth with the equally tasteless wine.

“Marcus is running for mayor, Lucifer. He’s doing really well in the polls, isn’t that great?” The Sergeant was attempting to bring him into the conversation again.

“Lovely,” Lucifer stated curtly, staring at Pierce.

“We’re getting married next month as well, and I’d love it if you could come,” the Sergeant added.

_Marriage._ He had to do something about this before it was too late. “Of course, Sergeant, whatever you desire,” Lucifer replied. He stood then, picking up his plate. “I think I’m finished. I’ll just take this to the kitchen.” He turned and walked off without waiting for a response.

In the kitchen, the Sergeant caught up with him. “What the hell is wrong with you, Lucifer?” she hissed. “You’re being extremely rude to Marcus.”

“Marcus is a sinner,” Lucifer stated calmly.

“You don’t get to—wait.” Her eyes grew wide as his words sunk in. “Did you see his…” She gestured to her perfectly normal shadow on the floor. 

Lucifer nodded stiffly. “He’s created at least one monster. I take it from your reaction that he hasn’t disclosed this information to you in the past.”

The Sergeant sighed, bringing up a hand to rub her temple. “I’m sure he has an explanation for it. I mean, he was in the army. It was probably an accident or an act of self-defense that happened years ago.”

Lucifer clenched his teeth. The tight feeling from earlier was back in full force. “Sergeant—”

“Just—stop, Lucifer, okay? Marcus is a nice, stable man with good plans for the future. He cares about the things I care about, and he’s been great to Trixie. I can’t deal with your—your _jealousy_ right now,” she snapped.

Lucifer stepped back, a sharp phantom pain flaring up in his chest. What was happening to him? He wasn’t hungry. He hadn’t eaten since Maze had brought him that last soul, but it had only been a week, he wouldn’t start to feel the effects of not eating for another day or two.

“Everything okay in here?” Pierce asked, entering the kitchen with a stack of dirty dishes.

“Yes, yes, everything’s fine. Sorry for abandoning you. Lucifer just wasn’t feeling well,” the Sergeant assured him.

“I’m quite fine now, thank you,” Lucifer added, before turning and leaving the two of them in the kitchen.

“Lucifer!” the Sergeant’s offspring called to him from across the room. “Will you sing for me? Just like last time? It was so beautiful!” She clasped her hands together and looked at him with large, pleading eyes.

“Ah, no, child. I cannot.” He tried to think of a good excuse that wouldn’t make Pierce suspicious. The man probably already had questions about Lucifer’s eating habits and inexplicable hostility. Singing would definitely give him away, and it would be a different show with a guilty man in the house.

“But you did last time,” she pleaded, her eyes somehow growing even larger.

“I have to go now,” Lucifer told her, giving up and heading towards the front of the house. “Tell your mother I said thank you for the dinner.”

The child pouted at him but nodded.

Lucifer breathed a sigh of relief and opened the front door, slipping out into the night. He pulled out his phone and dialled.

“Maze, I need you to find out everything you can about a certain Marcus Pierce.”

* * *

Lucifer sat on his couch, papers and photographs spread out on the table and chairs around him. Maze had been thorough in her research of Pierce, drawing on connections from both sides of the law. He paged through one file, detailing Pierce’s army days. Lucifer had pulled a few strings for access to the redacted information, and the report revealed that the man had been a chief tactician, organizing undercover intelligence missions. He knew how to put on a facade, there was no doubt about that now. 

Lucifer also had details on Pierce’s work with the city, managing budgets and delegating resources. Just like the Sergeant had mentioned, he had been increasing both manpower and funding for the city guard. What she probably didn’t know though, was that the training requirements for these new individuals had been significantly reduced, leading to a flood of inexperienced guards. If Pierce succeeded in his current bid for mayor, he’d have control of the entire city, and no one would question his decisions.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it. He picked up a stack of handwritten notes, held together by a paperclip, and paged through them. From the looks of it, Pierce was running a massive monster smuggling operation. Maze had collected dozens upon dozens of testimonials from individuals who had reported selling both Malchai and Corsai to Pierce’s men. The same men who claimed they worked for the notorious Sinnerman. If he and Pierce were one and the same, it meant he could be indirectly responsible for Delilah’s death, as well as the death of hundreds of others.

Lucifer’s hands tightened on the papers, and he felt his bones heat up with his temper. Pierce was the real monster. He had to quickly set the documents down as the corners where he gripped them started to smoke from the heat his body was giving off. What gave this man the right to decide when someone’s life was over? He wasn’t a Sunai; he was just stomping around, taking innocent souls left and right. Lucifer only took lives because he had to. That was his purpose… right? He punished the sinners. He had to. Lucifer took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He had to stop this man.

He leaned over, grabbing yet more evidence, and shuffled through pictures of various monsters trapped in iron cages, taking care not to set fire to them. His gaze fell on a picture of a dark hall lined with cages. He could see the ghostly white eyes of a Corsai staring out from behind the bars of one of the cages. _Bloody hell,_ there could have been _easily_ more than twenty monsters held in that hall alone. How _on earth_ were they doing this? 

Lucifer searched through more testimonies and documents, desperate for an insight. Monsters were notoriously hard to control, that was why the humans had such a huge problem with them in the first place. Corsai and Malchai killed without reason, all they cared about was food. Not even Lucifer could control them. 

He picked up one of the testimonies and skimmed it. _There._ Accounts of monsters being released onto the streets systematically. Pierce was _protecting_ them. He was holding the monsters captive to keep them safe from the guard, and then releasing them out into the city where they could feed undisturbed. By the time the guard showed up, it would already be too late. Pierce knew the city guard’s schedule; he knew their shifts and patrols. He could control the monster’s food supply; the one thing they cared about. And as long as he kept delivering them fresh food, they would be satisfied. 

The paper started to smoke. Lucifer clenched his teeth and set it down. He carefully picked through a series of charts and graphs from a file on the city and noted that, in the last few months, donations from wealthy families living downtown had increased by more than double. The orchestrated monster attacks were causing the humans in the city to panic and request more protection. Pierce was playing both sides against each other. 

Lucifer had seen enough. He gathered up all the papers, his hands shaking with barely contained rage. He needed to take a break. Calm down before he made a rash decision. He focused on making sure all the pages were in their proper order and placed them back into their files. He then proceeded to lock all of it away in his safe. 

He needed to figure out a way to present the evidence to the Sergeant without Pierce catching on. In a way, it had been lucky that the Sergeant hadn’t been concerned when he had told her about Pierce’s shadow. She would be safer if she didn’t suspect him. For the immediate future, at least. 

Right now, he was going to go down to Lux, and clear his mind. He had a few errands to take care of before the club opened, and the familiar tasks would be a welcome break from this research on the Sergeant’s homicidal fiancé. Lucifer looked down at himself, straightening his suit and checking for any scorch marks. When he found it up to standard, he strolled into the elevator, riding it down to his club. 

He could do this. While he probably wouldn’t remain in the club during the hours of operation, he could, at least, look over the setlist and the schedule for the next week. Maze would be ecstatic that he was actually taking an interest in Lux’s management again. Or at least maybe she wouldn’t yell at him next time they saw each other.

The elevator doors opened, and he stepped out, moving down the stairs towards the bar. He heard a shuffling noise and looked up to see a shadowy figure standing behind a table. The shape of the mysterious person was too large to be Mazikeen.

“Can I help you?” Lucifer asked. He really didn’t have the patience to deal with patrons right now. He just wanted to get his work done and collect his thoughts. At this rate, he was going to have to take a cold bath if he didn’t want to ruin another suit with his climbing body temperature.

“I know what you are,” a masculine voice stated, interrupting his thoughts.

_Damn._ He knew that voice. He let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, congratulations, would you like me to give you a medal?” Lucifer snapped, his irritation growing. “If you know what I am, you already know that you can’t kill me.”

“I don’t want you to _do_ anything.” Pierce stepped forwards. “In fact, I want you to stop doing what you _have_ been doing.”

“Look, I’m flattered you care so much, but I am _tired_ of being accosted by the Sergeant’s boyfriends. It’s not very original of you, coming in here, claiming to know what I am, and threatening to end me. Daniel already tried it months ago.”

Pierce chuckled darkly. “I don’t want to ‘end you’, Lucifer. In fact, if you’d like, I’m here to offer you a business proposal.”

“Absolutely not. I refuse to make a deal with the man who helped end Delilah’s life,” Lucifer snarled, glaring at the man.

“Suit yourself.” Pierce shrugged. “But if you don’t stop poking, it won’t just get ugly for you; it will also get ugly for Chloe and her little brat. Keep that in mind.”

Lucifer moved, streaking across the room with supernatural speed, before coming to stand next to the piano. “What’s to stop me from playing, right now. I can harvest your soul before you even realize what’s happening.”

Pierce didn’t even flinch. “I’m not stupid, Lucifer. My men know I’m here. If I don’t make it out alive, they have orders to pay a very _special_ visit to my wife to be.” 

Lucifer clenched his fists and tried to hold in a growl as he watched Pierce slowly turn around and stroll leisurely out of the club. That complete _imbecile._ How _dare_ he? 

Lucifer yanked his phone out of his pocket and sent off an abrupt text to Maze, informing her that Pierce was onto them. So much for his errands. There was no way he was going to be able to sit still and curate a setlist after Pierce’s threats. He could smell the unfortunate scent of silk and cotton burning and he placed a hand on the piano to ground himself. Things were getting out of hand. He needed to talk to the Sergeant, she was no longer safe. He tapped his phone screen again and dialed her number. 

_Hello?_

“Hello, Sergeant.”

“ _Lucifer, hey!”_ the Sergeant answered. _“I was actually going to call you later. I had a monster related death last night that looked suspicious. I was wondering if you would like to get together tomorrow, maybe I could bounce some of my thoughts about what happened off of you.”_

“I’d love to be of help, Sergeant. There’s som—”

_“Great! I can come to your place,”_ she offered.

“Actually, I’d like to speak to you about that. I’ve been doing some research on Marcus Pierce, and I’d like to talk to you about what I’ve found,” Lucifer confessed. “I know you were reluctant to address it last time we saw each other, but I’ve since found new information that I think you should see. I also do not believe the penthouse would be the best location for such a discussion.”

The line was silent.

_“Actually…”_

He heard the Sergeant take a deep breath. His heart forgot to beat. 

_“I’ve been looking into him as well._ ” 

Lucifer let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

The Sergeant continued, _“I’m sorry I was so rude to you the other day when you tried to warn me. I should have reacted better. I just… I wanted so badly for this to be real with Marcus, you know? God. I feel like the humans in my life are more dangerous than the monsters.”_ She huffed a laugh. _“Anyways, where would be best to meet?”_

Lucifer knew just the place. “I rent out a recording booth from time to time to work with various artists while they record. It’s at one of the large studios downtown, we could meet there,” Lucifer offered. “It’s soundproof, and we shouldn’t be interrupted.”

_“Great! Text me the address, and I’ll meet you there tomorrow. I gotta go now; it’s time for me to pick Trixie up. Bye!”_

“Goodbye, Sergeant.” Lucifer took a deep breath and hung up, putting his phone away. They just had to make it to tomorrow, and everything would be okay.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> You may have noticed the chapter count changed, and you would be correct. I added another chapter, not because I changed or rewrote the ending, but because when I went back over the last chapter with my beta earlier this week, I ended up adding some details and things to make the ending more clear. That ended up making the chapter a bit longer than I wanted it to be and, rather than cutting or rushing the story, I felt like it made more sense to have it as two separate chapters instead. 
> 
> Shoutout to Spinner for being an awesome beta!

Chloe listened to her daughter talk about her day as they drove home. Her mind began to wander to Marcus when she reached the turn into the driveway.

Last night at work, Chloe had done some digging on Marcus’s profile on the government computer system. Most people who had created monsters weren’t allowed to join the guard, but Marcus had been in the military, which was an exception. On each former military member’s file, there were extensive records on every monster that had been created by the individual and how exactly it was dealt with after the incident. 

However, upon viewing Marcus’s file, she found no mention of any monster creation whatsoever. A feeling of dread had settled in her stomach as she refreshed the page and scrolled down again. She looked at another profile, skimming through the records just to make sure the system was working. It was. Maybe she just didn’t have the security clearance to view Marcus’s records? That would explain why he hadn’t told her… But even then, there would have been a note on the file. A reason for the redactions. Marcus’s file had none of that. It looked just like her own file, the file of someone who had never created a monster. 

And then there was the conversation she had had with Lucifer on the phone. He had sounded… off and insisted that they couldn’t meet at the Penthouse. It could be that he was just worried after what had happened with Dan, but she couldn’t help but wonder about the new information he had mentioned. After she’d hung up, the feeling of dread from earlier had followed her around for the rest of the day. Lucifer didn’t— _couldn’t_ lie, which only meant one thing: Marcus was hiding something.

She parked the car and got out, walking over to open the door for Trixie.

“Hey, Mommy? What’s a prostitute?” her daughter asked, sauntering up the walk to the front door.

“What? Where did you hear that?” Chloe spluttered, caught completely off guard. She squinted at her daughter and rapidly ran through scenarios where Trixie may have heard that word. At a loss, she unlocked the front door and let them into the house.

Trixie shrugged nonchalantly and bounced into the hall. “School.”

Chloe followed her daughter, her mind working at warpspeed to come up with an explanation. Maybe she could make something up? What the _hell_ were eight-year-olds discussing these days? Probably best to tell the truth. She didn’t want to be responsible for a gaggle of eight-year-old girls walking around thinking that a prostitute was some sort of latin classification term for penguins. She took a deep breath. “Well—”

Her response was interrupted by a terrified scream.

“ _Trixie!_ ” Chloe moved down the hall, grabbing her gun. Her heart was pounding. What had gotten into the house? There had been no signs of forced entry, no broken glass or damaged locks. Was it a monster or a human? She rounded the corner; her gun pointed towards the ground.

There was a man Chloe had never seen before standing on the far side of the living room. He had one arm wrapped around Trixie, and the other was holding a very sharp knife. Chloe felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw a bead of red well up where he pressed the blade into her daughter’s neck. Tears were streaming down Trixie’s face, and she looked terrified.

“Let her go,” Chloe commanded, trying desperately to keep her voice steady. Her eyes burned. Not Trixie. Anything but Trixie.

The man sneered at her. “Make me.”

Chloe stepped forwards, raising her gun, careful to aim it at the man and not Trixie.

“Mommy,” Trixie gasped.

“It’s okay, monkey, I’m here. I’m gonna fix this,” Chloe tried desperately to comfort her daughter.

The man laughed, an ugly rasping noise that sounded like something was trying to claw its way out of his throat. “Maybe I’ll make some art before I kill her.” He grinned and gently traced the knife along Trixie’s neck, drawing a thin red line against her skin. 

Trixie whimpered.

“ _Stop!_ ” Chloe begged. “Why are you doing this? Why her? _Please_. Just let her go. You can take whatever you want, we won’t stop you.” 

The man leered at her. “No can do missy. I have very strict orders. The little girl dies. Nonnegotiable.” He pressed the knife into Trixie’s neck harder. “Say goodbye, mommy.”

Her daughter screamed.

“ _No!_ ” Chloe fired, the bullet embedding itself in the intruder’s chest. He choked and fell over, the knife tumbling out of his hand. Trixie started sobbing and ran to Chloe, gripping her hard.

“Hey, hey, I’ve got you now. It’s okay,” Chloe repeated over and over, stroking her daughter’s hair. 

The rattling gasps of the intruder interrupted their reunion. _Fuck_. Chloe’s training took over. She picked up her daughter and carried her towards the front door, one hand stroking her hair. The man didn’t sound like he would be getting up anytime soon, but it was best to be safe. She could call emergency services once they were outside. 

Before she could cross the threshold though, she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. They were coming from further inside the house. A wave of nausea passed over her. There were _more_ intruders. One of her hands went to her gun and the other tightened around Trixie.

“Oh, Chloe, what have you done?” Marcus rounded the corner and strolled into the kitchen, his body language far too casual for the situation. 

“Marcus! You were—? Why didn’t you—?”

He ignored the dead man on the living room floor and moved to pour himself a glass of water. “If I were you, I’d send your daughter to stay with her father. Before the monster forms.”

Chloe suddenly felt dizzy. Her breath was coming in small gasps. A monster. She’d just created a monster. “ _No,_ ” she whispered. She longed to sink to the floor and sob, but she couldn’t, not yet. She had to stay strong for Trixie.

Marcus wandered over and peered at the man bleeding out on the floor. “I can make all this go away. I have connections; he’ll live. As it stands, you’re going to have a Corsai to deal with in a few hours. Wouldn’t want it to be a Malchai instead.”

Chloe set Trixie down and stood in front of her. Her daughter clung to her waist. She stared at the man she thought she had loved. The man who would bring her favourite beer over after work, whom she had spent hours talking with, making plans for the future. He had watched her daughter, _tucked her in at night_. He had seemed so _safe_. She had wanted it to work out so badly, but she couldn’t ignore the evidence piling up. “What did you _do_?” she demanded, her hands shaking.

“It’s not about what _I_ did; it’s about what _you_ did.” Marcus stated. He had pulled out his phone and was typing on it.

“No. No, _you_ had something to do with this. _He had Trixie_. You were here, you could have done something, you could have _helped!_ Lucifer said—”

“ _Lucifer._ ” Marcus snorted. “Your Sunai friend isn’t going to be too happy about this. You’ve just put yourself right at the top of his menu. But it’s okay, Chloe, I can protect you from him as well.”

“What I did doesn’t matter. I did it to save Trixie’s life,” Chloe replied, pleased with how steady her voice sounded. They couldn’t stay here. She needed to make plans now and quickly. She had to get Trixie out. Marcus was—he wasn’t safe. Lucifer had been right all along. She should have listened. _Why didn’t she listen?_ And now… who knew what would happen to their friendship. She still had Trixie though, and that was what mattered.

Marcus ignored her and continued to type on his phone. “My men will be here in a few minutes. I suggest you get your daughter cleaned up and call her father to pick her up. You and I have some things to discuss in private.” He turned and wandered back down the hallway, before turning and glancing back at her. “Oh, and Chloe, meet him outside. There’s no reason for him to get involved in all this. I know you don’t want to put Trixie in danger. Again.” 

Chloe clenched her teeth against the scream that was building in her chest. Her eyes burned and she struggled not to cry. She didn’t know whether the rage or the fear was worse. She squeezed her fists in an effort to ground herself. Trixie. Trixie was what mattered. She had to make sure Trixie was safe, she could deal with Marcus later. She took a deep breath. She could do this. 

She picked Trixie up again and carried her into the kitchen, sitting her on the counter and getting a warm towel to wipe the cut at her neck. “You were so brave, Trixie,” she told her daughter, wiping her tears away with the other side of the towel.

“I’m so sorry, mommy. He just came out of nowhere, and I couldn’t move. It was so _scary_ ,” Trixie whispered.

Chloe felt her heart breaking for her daughter, and she bit her lip in an effort to keep from crying. The girl had been through more than anyone her age should have had to go through. 

“I know, babe. I’m so, _so_ sorry that happened. You’re safe now. I’m gonna call Daddy, and he’s gonna come pick you up,” Chloe told her. “Can you promise me something, monkey? I need you to keep this a secret, okay? Everything that happened after we got home today. You can’t tell anyone, not even daddy. I’ll buy you all the chocolate cake you want later.”

Trixie studied her face and nodded carefully. She leaned in for a hug. “I promise. I love you, mommy.” 

Chloe held her close. “I love you too, babe.” She pulled back. “Okay, can you go pack a bag for daddy’s? I’ll be right outside your room; I’m going to make my phone call now.”

Trixie nodded again, and Chloe helped her down off the counter. Her daughter clasped her hand firmly and they walked to her room together. Chloe stood guard outside, just like she’d promised, and pulled out her phone to call Dan.

_“Hey, Chlo,”_ he answered.

“Hey Dan, I need you to come to pick Trixie up. We’re at Marcus’s place. I’ll explain everything later, but I need you to come now.”

_“Is everything okay?”_ He sounded worried. _Shit_.

“Yeah, things are just a bit of a mess here, you know, with the move and everything, and Trixie got hurt. It’s nothing serious, I already cleaned her up, but I need you to take her for a few days until I can make sure things are safe,” Chloe reassured him. She hoped he wouldn’t press further.

_“Okay, I’ll be there in fifteen,”_ Dan said and hung up.

Chloe let out a breath of relief and put her phone back in her pocket. She peeked into Trixie’s room to check on her and watched as her daughter finished packing. A few minutes later her daughter came out clutching a bag and her Miss Alien doll. 

“Ready to go?” Chloe asked her, trying to sound optimistic. 

Trixie nodded quietly and clutched her hand again. Chloe squeezed her hand to reassure her and the two of them headed out the front door to wait for Dan. 

* * *

Lucifer flexed his fingers around the steering wheel of his Corvette as he, once again, pulled into the driveway of Marcus’s house. If he never saw this house again, it would be too soon. The Sergeant hadn’t shown up at the recording studio as they’d planned, and he’d tried to reach her several times to no avail. His leg bounced and he gritted his teeth as he thought of Pierce’s threats. 

Had she confronted him alone? He cursed himself for not going straight to her once he had received the evidence of Pierce’s true nature. Hell, he should have gone last night after their phone call, but he hadn’t been thinking. He hadn’t eaten in more than a week and he had spent the night in a chaotic delirium, unable to tell what was real. He still hadn’t eaten. He had meant to, honestly. But he couldn’t help but think Chloe would take him more seriously if he appeared more human-like. Now, it was just another item on the long list of things he regretted.

He parked his car and was across the yard and at the front door seconds later. He rang the bell, preparing himself for a fight. His body pulsed with an intense restless energy. He fiddled with his cufflinks and tapped his fingers against his legs, unable to keep still. He might be weakened from his self-imposed starvation, but he was still capable of overpowering a human. The door opened, and he curled his hands into fists, bracing himself on the step. He raised his gaze to the person opening the door and almost did a double-take.

“Sergeant!” Lucifer exclaimed, relief washing over him. She was fine. She was right here in front of him. He could still make everything better. He stepped forwards. 

“Mr. Morningstar,” she replied curtly.

He froze. Something wasn’t right. “Is Pierce here? When you didn’t show, I thought…” he trailed off, his mind spinning.

“I’m fine, Lucifer. You can go now,” she said in that same clipped tone.

_What?_ “But—”

“Go! I don’t want you here.” She backed away from him, retreating back into the house.

He stepped forwards, putting his hand on the door. “Chloe?” He cocked his head and studied her. There was fear in her eyes. Was she scared of _him?_ “Did I do something wrong?”

“ _Leave,_ or I will call the city guard and report a monster trying to break into my house. I don’t know why you even bother. I mean, I’m human. I don’t care about things like _you_ , your kind kills us for fun.” she snapped.

Lucifer took his hand off the door, stepping backwards as though her words had struck him physically. His mind couldn’t make sense of what was happening. She had accepted him. They had talked. They had been okay. How could—something caught his eye. The ground by the Sergeant’s feet, it was moving. His eyes snapped to her face, as realization dawned on him. The thick, cloying scent of guilt saturated the air. At first, he had thought it was residual from Pierce, but now as he smelt it, he knew it belonged to her. 

The hunger inside him suddenly clawed its way to the forefront and he gasped, struggling to keep a grasp on his rationality. Every part of him strained to sing, to move towards the guilty soul, and put it to rest. It called to him, and he knew reaping her would feel like pure bliss, she wouldn’t struggle, it would be peaceful. He staggered backwards, briefly registering the hurt and fear in the Sergeant’s eyes before she slammed the door.

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his bones burning as the battle waged inside of him. More than anything, he wanted to go after her, to ask her what had happened, to understand. The other part of him knew he had to get away, had to eat something before he could safely approach her. He wasn’t going to let himself hurt her.

“I’m coming back,” he whispered softly to her door. “I promise.” He closed his eyes and turned to walk slowly to his car. In his head he was calculating directions to places where he could hunt. It had been so long. Maze had been looking after him for months. Hopefully his usual haunts were still viable. He was almost to his car door when he heard the whisper of footsteps behind him. He spun, expecting to see the Sergeant coming after him, but there was no one there.

A punch landed against his ribs, and Lucifer staggered and bent over in pain. So, _this_ is what it felt like to be hit. He regained his balance and glanced up, just in time to see a Malchai aim another blow at him. He swerved and the monster missed, striking the car instead and putting a decent-sized dent in the door. _Bastard._ He _liked_ that car.

Lucifer turned, listening for his attacker and trying to get into a decent stance to defend himself. His mind raced. He was in no condition for a fight against another monster, but he couldn’t risk singing; the Sergeant might hear it. It would draw her to him, she would be defenseless, not only against the Malchai, but against himself as well.

The Malchai struck again while he was distracted by his thoughts, this time catching him on the jaw and his head snapped back painfully from the force of the blow. Lucifer groaned and the other monster ducked and weaved around him. _Bloody hell_. This pain thing was really losing its novelty. He spun around, trying to keep his eyes on his opponent, his breath catching when his ribs protested in pain.

“Good night, little Sunai,” the Malchai sneered from behind him. Stars exploded before his eyes as something collided with his head, and everything went dark.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter!! Aaaa! We made it! Thank you so much for sticking around and reading this story! I had a ton of fun writing it!!
> 
> A quick warning: there are references to an eating disorder, but nothing graphic.
> 
> Special thanks to Spinner for betaing this chapter!

Muffled sounds slowly became clear, and Lucifer realized someone was calling his name. He opened his eyes, pleased to find that wherever he was, it was not brightly lit. He blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting. His head was pounding, and he felt like vomiting. Someone groaned. Oh wait. That was him. Bloody hell, pain sucked. He looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. There was someone sitting on the floor across from him, just out of reach. He lifted an arm, confused when it didn’t respond. He shook it, and something behind him rattled.

“Lucifer, you’re chained up. It’s all pure metal, you’re not going to be able to break the chains,” the person told him. 

Oh. Well that explained the nausea.

Lucifer groaned again and tried to organize his thoughts. His head hurt so much, and he was so _hungry_. What the hell happened? He went to see the Sergeant… then he was fighting someone? His ribs ached with his breathing. _Definitely_ fighting someone.

“Lucifer?” the person asked again.

Lucifer squinted, trying to figure out who it was. He could smell guilt; the rush of blood, a heart was pounding. He knew this person. _Chloe…_ Suddenly everything came rushing back: the confrontation at Marcus’s house, the Sergeant’s guilt, the Malchai that had attacked him.

“Bollocks,” he mumbled.

The Sergeant shuffled forwards; she wasn’t chained like he was. _Interesting._ She let out a sigh of relief when he looked at her. “I was so worried you weren’t going to wake up,” she told him. 

But… hadn’t she _wanted_ him gone? What the bloody hell was going on?

“Lucifer, glad for you to finally join us,” Pierce’s voice cut through his thoughts. 

Lucifer’s heart sank. Of course, this was _his_ doing. 

Pierce sauntered over to the bars of their cell, and Lucifer almost choked on the scent of the man’s sins filling the space. It was _much_ stronger than the guilt coming off of the Sergeant, almost too much for him to bear. His bones ached with hunger and he longed to tear free and consume the souls in front of him. He leaned forwards, his head swimming. The Sergeant stiffened, shifting away from Lucifer. He told himself he didn’t care, but he forced himself to shift backwards, nonetheless. 

“Fuck off, Marcus,” the Sergeant snapped, her words sounding braver than her voice. “You think no one is going to come looking for us? Dan has probably already noticed I’m not answering my phone.”

“I honestly couldn’t care less. Nothing that pathetic man does is going to get you out of here,” Pierce replied.“And if he goes to the guard? Well, I’ll just have to have one of my men pay your daughter another visit.”

The Sergeant’s eyes widened in terror.

“Now,” Pierce continued, “you’ve both been getting on my nerves, and since I know neither of you will give up, I’ve brought you here where I can keep an eye on you.” He turned and walked towards the exit, pausing once he reached it. “Lucifer, we both know this cell won’t keep you if you feed. So you can either feed now,” his gaze flickered to the Sergeant, “or you can wait until you lose control.” Marcus shrugged. “All I have to do is wait. She created a monster; she’ll die anyway. How it happens makes no difference to me. Next time, don’t cross me.” And with that, he was gone, the door slamming behind him and leaving them in silence.

“Lucifer…” the Sergeant started. “Lucifer, I’m so sorry. For what I said when you came to the door. I—I was so ashamed. I didn’t want you to know what I—” she cut herself off, tears welling in her eyes. “He—he had Trixie; he was hurting her! He was going to kill her. I didn’t know what else to do. I had to stop it, I had to save her... And I would do it again. I know it. I would do it again if it meant that it would save her life.” Tears were streaming down her face by this point.

Lucifer felt an overwhelming urge to reach out and comfort her, even more overwhelming than his hunger, but he kept himself back and let her talk. He had always believed those who hurt others or killed to be in the wrong, but here was this woman—his _friend_ , he realized—telling him about what she had done, and he had never felt more conflicted. Even with Daniel—while he understood why it would hurt the Sergeant if he took her ex’s soul—he knew the man was undeniably guilty, and the acts that he had committed had been wrong.

“I wanted to stay,” he admitted after she had finished. “Even after I saw you—after I knew you were guilty. I didn’t leave because of your guilt. I left because I didn’t want to harm you.”

“You haven’t been eating again,” the Sergeant realized.

Lucifer looked away.

“Why?” she asked.

“It’s…” he sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know exactly why it happens, but when I’m like this, I can feel pain, and I can _bleed_. I feel _human_. I don’t want to be a monster; I don’t want to be evil. I thought that maybe… maybe it would be easier to talk to you like this, maybe you would like it better.” He looked back up at the Sergeant. There was something in her eyes that he didn’t understand, and he was reminded once again that he wasn’t human, he didn’t feel things like they did. He huffed in frustration and looked away again.

“Lucifer...” she breathed, her expression one of horror. Lucifer braced himself for her reaction. He had failed again. Failed to protect her. Failed to be human. Failed to—

“I had no idea.” She looked at him with wide eyes. “It’s all my fault. I’m so, so sorry. I fucked up. You saved my life; you saved _my daughter_.” She was crying again now, and it was causing things to tug in Lucifer’s chest. “I judged you because you’re—but no, you’re _more_ than a monster. So much more, and I should have seen that sooner. God, I’m _so stupid_.” She shook her head and raised her hand to wipe her tears.

Lucifer watched her; her words fueling a warmth inside him. The urge to say something, do anything to make her stop crying, was back in full force. He couldn’t stand to see her in such distress, and before he knew it, he was straining against the chains, trying to reach out and offer her some sort of comfort.

Some part of him tried to make sense of what he was experiencing. It could be a side effect of his current physical state, but he hadn’t felt anything like this in the past when he had starved himself. He could feel the lingering traces of melancholy—dangerously close to losing control, but something was different. It wasn’t all consuming like it had been in the past. Somehow the Sergeant—no— _Chloe_ had changed things. There was something about her that made what she thought of him matter, something that made him feel things that hadn’t even been on his radar before.

“I don’t blame you,” he told her. “I don’t exactly understand what I’m feeling right now, but my actions were my own choice. For some reason, I care about how you perceive me. I never cared what Maze thought—I still don’t. Something about you is just different.”

“I think I understand,” the Sergeant was observing him, her face curious. “When I found out about your identity, I was scared. But… the scariest part wasn’t _what_ you are—I was afraid because I still _cared_ so much about you. I still do. I didn’t understand it at the time—I’m not sure I even do now—and I kept trying to throw myself into things, work, the relationship with Marcus, in hopes that what I was feeling would go away, but it didn’t. I have feelings for you, Lucifer. I—I love you.”

Lucifer stared at her. He was at a complete loss for words. Physically, he still felt awful, his head and ribs ached, and his body throbbed with heat from his bones, but something inside him now felt new and whole. It felt precious and warm and not unlike the euphoria of creating music. But… “I don’t know if monsters can love,” Lucifer said, softly.

“This isn’t about monsters, Lucifer,” Chloe told him, her voice soft. She moved forwards from her position across from him and put her hand on his knee. “This is about you, and you are definitely capable of love. I see it in how you care about the patrons of Lux, how you care about the musicians you coach. I can hear it when you sing. It shows in how you cared about Delilah—hell, you cared so much you even pushed a complete stranger into investigating her death. You saved me and my daughter even though the situation with Malcolm had nothing to do with you, and you let Dan go because he meant something to me. If that’s not love, then I don’t know what is.”

Lucifer stared down at her hand on his leg in wonder. He had never thought about it like that before. Maybe Sunai were a lot more human than anyone realized. Or maybe it was just him. But that no longer mattered. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Chloe nodded and looked away. There were tears in her eyes again. “I want you to take my soul,” she told him. 

Lucifer felt his stomach clench in horror. He opened his mouth to refuse, but she continued before he could get a word in. 

“Look, I know Marcus isn’t going to let us go, and even if you don’t kill me, he’s a psychopath, he _will_ do it himself eventually. If I’m going to die, I want to go out on my own terms. I don’t want him to win. This way, at least you can get out of here. Just promise me you’ll help Dan look after Trixie. I know you don’t know a lot about kids, but she trusts you, and I know you can protect her.” Tears fell freely down her face. “Tell her—tell her I love her. Please?” A sob escaped from her lips.

Lucifer felt a sharp pang in his chest, and he was desperate to put his arms around her and hold her until everything was okay again. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t take her soul. It didn’t matter that she was guilty. He shook his head insistently. “No. No, I won’t do it. I won’t kill you. It’s not the end. I can hold on a while yet, maybe we can catch Pierce off guard. We can think of something. Just, wait, give me some time.” His suggestions came out sounding hollow, and he knew they could both tell that he didn’t believe what he was saying.

Chloe sniffled and nodded her head sharply. “Okay, okay, yeah, we can try to think of something, but just _please_ promise me you won’t let him be the one to… do it.” She looked at him, her blue eyes wide and pleading.

“I promise,” Lucifer agreed.

* * *

Chloe had no idea how much time had passed since Marcus had left. It could have been hours. He had lured her here the evening after Lucifer had visited with the promise of being able to talk to him. He told her that Lucifer had been secured and wouldn’t be able to hurt her while she explained her side of the story to him. In a way, he hadn’t lied. Lucifer had been secured, and she was able to talk to him, but she hadn’t counted on Marcus locking her in here as well. 

She’d spoken with Lucifer, their conversation bittersweet. She regretted so many things: how she’d treated him, how she’d buried her feelings, that she’d waited so long to confront Marcus, how she wasn’t able to say goodbye to Trixie… What ifs and could have beens raced through her mind as she and Lucifer tried and failed to come up with a way to escape. 

Chloe sighed in frustration and Lucifer looked at her in concern. She rubbed her hands over her face, stood up, and began pacing the cell, trying to think of a way to express her thoughts.

Suddenly, the door banged open, and she jumped, her heart kicking into high gear.

Marcus strolled into the hall. “Decker,” he said, her name sounding jarringly formal on his lips. “You’re still alive.”

Chloe walked to the bars, raising her chin in defiance. “I am. But I’ve made my peace with my demons, which is more than you can say.”

Marcus chuckled. “I don’t need peace; I _own_ my demons. They obey my every order, just like this city will. _Everything_ has a breaking point eventually, you know...”

“Maybe,” Lucifer cut in, “but broken things have a tendency to behave in unpredictable ways.”

Chloe turned to look at him, surprised by his interjection and found that he wasn’t there. In his place was a rippling black mass of smoke—no, a smoky shadow of a figure. It looked vaguely humanoid, but two horns of smoke curled from its forehead and two massive, black wings stretched out behind it, wreathed in flame. What looked like embers or sparks and licks of fire flickered across its body, glowing brighter the closer to the centre they were. In the middle of its chest shone the most brilliant light of all, a warm golden flame that pulsed like a heartbeat.

She stood there staring, unable to look away, paralyzed by shock and fear. The figure turned to look at her with its glistening black eyes. She knew those eyes.

“Lucifer?” she whispered.

The chains that had bound the Sunai disintegrated and fell to the ground as dust. He moved then, gliding across the floor elegantly, as though his feet weren’t quite touching the ground. He paused upon the bars of their cage and tilted his head to the side, as though considering. A smoky hand reached out to the bars, and they too, fell away. 

Marcus turned to make his escape, sprinting towards the door at the end of the hall. The Sunai danced forwards, and with a beat of those magnificent fiery wings, he was free from the cell. Marcus continued to move towards the exit, but his movements became slow and sluggish, as though he were moving underwater. With another beat of his wings, Lucifer caught up to him and a red glow was visible from under Marcus’s skin.

His _soul_ , Chloe realized. She could see his _soul_. 

The Sunai reached forwards and wrapped a hand around Marcus’s forearm. Marcus didn’t struggle, his eyes glazing over as he went into a sort of trance. The light inside him started to move, to swirl and flow around Lucifer, and then _into_ Lucifer. Marcus’s eyes blackened and shriveled, until there was nothing left but two burnt sockets as the red glow left his body. And then the light vanished completely. The Sunai let go of the man, and Marcus collapsed to the floor, lifeless. 

It was over. The whole thing had lasted only a few seconds. Chloe shivered a little. It had been eerily silent, but at the same time strangely peaceful.

Lucifer turned to face her now, and she watched him approach her slowly. He was still in his other form, and she was mesmerized at the tiny flames that danced along his arms and torso. Her heart was steady, her breathing even, and she felt strangely calm. She wasn’t afraid of him, and if this were to be her end, then so be it. Marcus was dead, Trixie was safe, that was all that mattered. 

She held out her hand to the Sunai, and he stopped. She could feel his gaze on her, the intense heat radiating off of him, and he did that head tilt thing again. A shiver passed through his smokey figure, from the tip of his swirling horns and flaming wings, then down to his toes, and all of a sudden, the shadowiness was gone. She was once again gazing at familiar dark eyes and hair, alabaster skin and stubble, the face of the man she had come to love.

“Chloe,” he breathed. His eyes were still fixated on her, his expression one of awe.

She looked down and almost did a double take. She was _glowing_. Her eyes widened as she stared at her arm and the light swirling around it. It was red _and_ white. A mix of the two, moving together to make up her soul. “What does it mean?” she asked softly, as she watched the glow fade and her skin returned to its normal state. 

“I don’t know,” he breathed, wonder in his voice. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. You were… forced into an act you would have never committed otherwise. Maybe it’s because your free will was compromised. Maybe it’s all about choice…” he trailed off, still staring.

Chloe felt her eyes widen as she realized what he was saying. Maybe she wasn’t entirely guilty. Maybe things weren’t as black and white as they had originally thought. Maybe she didn’t have to go—she could see Trixie again! She sobbed in relief, throwing her arms around Lucifer. He stiffened for a second, but relaxed and hesitantly brought his arms around her to hold her. One of his palms gently rubbed her back as she let the tears flow into the material of his ruined shirt.

When she finally pulled back, she realized how much of a mess they were. Both of them were covered in dirt from sitting on the floor of the cell, and Lucifer’s shirt was ripped in several places from his fight with the Malchai. Chloe’s eyes lingered on the exposed patches of skin that showed through the tears. “Your stars are gone,” she observed.

Lucifer looked down at himself. “Yes, I suppose I’ll have to start all over again now.” He gave her a rueful smile.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“It’s fine, that time wasn’t… it wasn’t like the others. I was still myself. I was able to direct my desire to consume rather than be a slave to it. You gave me something to focus on, a way to hang on to reason. I didn’t know that was possible,” he marveled.

Chloe felt her heart warm at his words.

“We might be free now,” he continued. “But we are far from off the hook. Pierce had a lot of men that worked for him, and they are not going to be happy about his death. If you’ll have me, I’d love to help deal with those who are left. There are bound to be some truly guilty among them.”

“I’d love to work with you again. Maybe we can find a way to integrate you into the city guard. That way, you could help us with the monster problem as well. When you’re not busy with running Lux and your music, of course,” she added.

He smiled at her warmly. “I’d like that. You are, truly, an extraordinary being, Chloe Decker. If there’s anyone who could convince the city guard to accept a Sunai, it would be you.”

She reached over and took his hand as they walked through the building, following the emergency exit signs. Lucifer looked down at their intertwined fingers in astonishment but didn’t let go. Instead, he squeezed her hand gently and let her lead the way out.

The sunlight on her face felt amazing, and she felt like she was being warmed inside and out as she watched Lucifer bask in their freedom. She moved closer to him, standing on her tippy toes and kissed him softly. After she pulled away, he stared at her, the same wonderous look on his face from earlier when he had seen her soul.

“Chloe—” he started, but she shushed him.

“It’s okay. I know you’re uncertain about what the condition of my soul means, and I know you’re still figuring things out about your own identity. I just want you to know that you don’t have to figure it out alone, I’m here for you,” she told him. “This can be whatever we want it to be.”

His eyes were soft as he watched her. “Thank you,” he said and leaned down to kiss her once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! We've made it to the end of another story. I have some things to share, including a sequel to this story. YES YOU HEARD ME A SEQUEL, so don't run away juuuuust yet. 
> 
> First things first! Thank you sooo much for reading! Thank you for all the kudos and comments! They make my day, and it's always an exciting thing to see that other people enjoy the stories I come up with as much as I do. It means so much to me. Before this year I've never shared my creative writing (outside of a grade school context) and to see so many people reading and getting invested is truly inspiring. It makes me want to write more! I appreciate you all so much <3
> 
> Speaking of more! I have plans!! Some of you may have gathered that uni has eaten my life a little bit, and this is true, but it's not going to stop me from writing more, it's just gonna happen a bit slower than in the past. I have three things planned, in order of posting: 
> 
> Number one is whumptober shorts! Those will be showing up before the end of the month of course, so keep an eye out if whumptober is your thing. 
> 
> Number two is the next Pirates AU story! If you follow that AU, I haven't forgotten it, it's still there, and still being worked on (If you don't follow it, go follow it! What are you waiting for? Lucifer is a PIRATE!) I don't have an eta yet for it, but I know it won't be ready before December/January (I know, I'm sorry. The grad school gods are greedy).
> 
> Number three is a Monsters AU sequel! Because apparently my brain cannot leave well enough alone and decided in the middle of the night that this story needs to continue. Ella was upset that she didn't get to be in the monster story, some of Lucifer's siblings wanted in on the action, and well... it took off from there. (It will also address who created Lucifer!) I have lots of things planned for it, and I'm very excited to keep writing in this universe. V.E. Schwab's monster sandbox is way too much fun to play in! XD Like the pirate story, I don't have an eta for this either, except to say it won't be this year. 
> 
> Speaking of V.E. Schwab! If you want more monsters while waiting for the sequel, go read her [Monsters of Verity duology](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36638423-monsters-of-verity-collection?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Ie1rhWMKRA&rank=3)! It's _amazing!!!_
> 
> I'll keep posting updates at the ends of my upcoming fics, to keep you in the loop with what I'm working on, how the stories are coming along, and whether or not I've been eaten by my own research come to life. Can you submit a thesis that is just Lucifer fanfic? Do they let you do that? I'm probably in the wrong program... _sigh_
> 
> One last thing! If you want to come say hi, ask about a story I'm writing, or even commiserate about grad school experiences, feel free to come poke me on [tumblr](https://feartheviolas.tumblr.com/). I know, I know, the blog is still empty. I am _bad_ at social media. I made it so people could talk to me if they wanted (and to make my friends feel like they had more followers shhhh) because I know AO3 is sometimes hard to communicate on. I'll admit I am also terrified of commenting on strangers' fics in public, and prefer to do most of my flailing at authors in private, so I totally get it if you are like that too.
> 
> Thank you again! Until next time,  
> -Vi


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